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The Everglades 



AND 



Other Essays Relating 



TO 



Southern Florida 




BY 



JOHN GIFFORD, D. OEc. 

Formerly Assistant Professor of 
Forestry, Cornell University. Author 
or "Practical Forestry, etc. 



Published by the 

EVERGLADE LAND SALES CO. 
KANSAS CITY. MO. 



COPYRIGHT, 1911 

BY 

EVERGLADE LAND SALES CO. 



©CI.Ai8;i671 



DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY 

of 

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE BROWARD 

the 
"FATHER OF THE EVERGLADE DRAINAGE PROJECT" 



CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER I. PAGE 

The Everglades of Florida and the Landes of France. From Con- 
servation, 1909 1 

A Tribute to Broward. F"rom the Atlanta Georgian 12 

CHAPTER II. 
Southern Florida. Forestry and Irrigation, 1904 13 

CHAPTER III. 
Trees as an Aid to Drainage. From the Spanish, in La Hacienda 21 

CHAPTER IV. 
The Coco Palm. Garden Magazine, 1910 27 

CHAPTER V. 

The Lime and the Sapodilla. Garden Magazine, 1910 33 

CHAPTER VI. 
The Banana and the Papaw. Garden Magazine, 1910 38 

CHAPTER VII. 
What Will Grow in the Everglades. Everglade Magazine 42 

CHAPTER VIII. 
Valuable Trees for the Everglades. Everglade Magazine 48 

CHAPTER IX. 
Some Common Florida Plants. Everglade Magazine 52 

CHAPTER X. 
Vines for Everglade Planting. Everglade Magazine 56 

CHAPTER XI. 
Mahogany in South Florida and the West Indies. Woodcraft, 1909.. 60 

CHAPTER XII. 
Bungalow Construction in South Florida. Everglade Magazine 83 

CHAPTER XIII. 
The Everglades of Florida. Southland Magazine 95 

CHAPTER XIV. 
The Problem of Growing Pineapples for 'Market. Garden Magazine . . 104 

CHAPTER XV. 
The Mango, the Best of All the Tropical Fruits. Garden Magazine . . . 109 

APPENDIX. 
A List of the Trees of South Florida, Native and Introduced 114 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE 

Views of Arcachon in France on tlie Ba\- of Biscay and Miami, Flor- 
ida, on Biscayne Bay Frontispiece 

Natives of the Landes of France 2 

A Scene in the Landes before Drainage 3 

Tapping a Pine for Resin in the Landes of France 6 

Indian Family in Canoes on the ]\Iiami River 8 

A Cypress Island in the Everglades 9 

On the Beach at Cape Florida 26 

Coco-Palm Grove on the Keys 26 

A Camphor Tree 31 

Picking Sapodillas 32 

A Lime Tree on Elliott's Key 32 

A Papaw Tree in Full Fruit 2il 

State Canal in the Everglades 44 

In the Hammock on Key Largo 59 

In the Mangrove Swamp 76 

A Cool Tile Covered Bungalow 82 

A Shingled Bungalow 82 

A Cuban Country House in the Tobacco District of Pinar del Rio. . . 84 

A Cuban Bohio 85 

Type of Ine.xpensive Bungalow Suited to tlic Climate of South Florida 86 

A Patio Floor Plan 87 

A Cistern Plan 88 

Floor Plan of Flat Roofed L'nit House 89 

Side \'iew of Flat Roofed Unit House 90 

Plan of a Strong, .Attractive Fence 91 

A House for Poultry 92 

Two Views of Unit House in Process of Construction 94 

A Scene in the Pineland, a Rock Road and a Rock Fence 99 

A Scene in Egypt where Flat Roofed Houses Prevail 100 

A Field of Pineapples on the East Coast of Florida 103 

Sundersha Mango Tree 108 

A Rubber Tree (Ficus aiirea), in h'lorida, on the South Side of the 

Miami River 113 

West Indian Almond Trees Bent by the Wind 114 

An Avenue of West Indian Almond Trees 115 

A Mahogany Tree in the Bahamas 116 

The Live Oak 117 

Seminole Indians Coming to Miami witli \'enison and Skins 118 

A Branch of the Candlenut Tree 120 

A Mastic Tree in the Hammock 121 

A Cedrela Tree 124 

A Rubber Killing a Coco Palm 126 

A Piece of Reclaimed Land in llnlhind 130 



PREFACE. 

I have been writing on the subject of the Everglades and 
South Florida in general since 1904 in various magazines. Re- 
quests for this literature have come to me from time to time and 
in ever-increasing number until my reprints are exhausted. It 
is impossible to answer all the letters which come to me request- 
ing information in reference to this region. Friends have sug- 
gested many "times that I collect some of these articles into book 
form. This I have attempted to do in the following volume. I 
am well aware that as a book it has many shortcomings and, 
owing to the fact that it contains articles hastily written at odd 
times and for dififerent purposes, there is considerable repetition 
and perhaps even contradiction. If, however, it succeeds in 
arousing interest in this great Everglade drainage project and 
offers helpful suggestions to newcomers, its mission will have 
been fulfilled, and its author and publisher will be satisfied. I 
wish to thank the various magazines for permission to copy these 
articles and the Everglade Land Sales Company for assuming 
the burden of publication. 

John Gifford. 

Coconut Grove. Florida, 1911. 




ARCACHON— ON THE BAY OF BISCAY. A GREAT RESORT WHICH DEVELOPED 
AFTER THE RECLAMATION OF THE LANDES OF FRANCE, CORRESPONDING TO 
MIAMI, ON EISCAYNE BAY, WHICH WILL DEVELOP IN A SIMILAR WAY WHEN 
THE EVF.KGI. ADKS ARE DRAIXED. 




MIAMI. ON BISCAVNE BAY. 



From Coiiseri'dtiflii, 1(^09. 



The Everglades 



AND 



Southern Florida 



CHAPTER I. 



THE EVERGLADES OF FLORIDA AND THE LANDES 

OF FRANCE. 




^ URING a recent visit to the great work of 
reclamation now in progress in the Everglades 
of Florida, I was impressed with its resem- 
blance in many respects to the great work the 
P^rench have accomplished in the Landes of 
France, and with the fact that ex-Governor 
Broward, after many trials and tribulations, is 
succeeding, just as did the French engineers 
after similar troubles. This also applies to the work of Enrico 
Dalgas in the reclamation of the Heathland of Denmark. 

The drainage of the Everglades is now well under way, and 
almost every unprejudiced person who visits this work becomes 
an enthusiastic convert. Just as the French engineers prac- 
tically added a new province to France, Broward has been instru- 
mental in promoting a work which will convert a vast, useless 
waste into what promises to be the most productive part of 
Florida, if not the most productive area of land of equal size in 
the whole United States of America. This drainage is being done 
at the insignificant cost of about $1 per acre; and when done the 
land will be ready at once for the plow and for tlie production 
of tender crops, the like of which cannot be produced else- 
where in the L'nited States, and at a time when the rest of the 
country is frost-bound. This is no small area ; it is many miles 
in extent, and is capable of yielding, at small outlay, enormous 
crojis of the most delicate tro])ical products, as well as Northern 

1 



THE E\'ERGLADES 

vegetables, in midwinter. A visit to this region, even at this 
time (May, 1909), at the very beginning of the work, since it is a 
colossal task, will convince the most skeptical person that this 
is no idle dream or wild land scheme, but a feasible, practical 
piece of good l)usiness. After inspecting this work, one naturally 
wonders why it was not done long ago. It is not a complex 
engineering ]irol)lem ; it is merely a matter of digging, so that 




OF THE I.ANDKS OF FRAXCF.. 
liV DNAIXAGK. 



A KKl.lO.N KKAI.AIMEI) 



the water in this great lA'erglade basin can llow into the sea. 
Behind the giant maws of these dredges which, when they work 
day and niglit. are literally eating their way througli rock, mud 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

and sand at the rate of a mile a month per (h'edge, there are left 
broad, navigable canals, which are comparable only to those of 
Holland, and which will afford miles of placid water courses, 
avenues of traffic for the products of the land, and a never- 
ending source of enjoyment to pleasure craft. 

In the case of the Everglades, the exit of the water to the 
sea is prevented by a limestone rim. In the case of the Eandes 
it was due to a bank of wind-blown sand, which clogged all out- 
lets to the sea. The resemblance of the two conditions is much 
closer than is at hrst apparent, since this very rock rim was 




A SCENE IN THE LANDES OF FRANCE BEFOKE RECLAMATION. THE NATIVES 
WALK ABOUT ON STILTS. (PHOTO OF AX ILLUSTRATION IN AN OLD FRENCH 
GEOGRAPHY. ) 



once, no doubt, limestone sand blown in by the wind and later 
hardened into rock. I think geologists now generally recognize 
that this rocky rim is of eolian formation. The main difference 
between the two propositions is that, in the case of the Landes, 
it was silicious sand, wliich did not harden into rock, but re- 



THE EVERGLADES 

mained mobile, shifting back and forth with every caprice of 
the wind, while, in the case of the Everglades rim, it was lime- 
stone sand, which soon hardened into solid limestone rock. As 
in sand dunes, the wind laminations show in the rock like leaves 
in a book, recording forever the character of its formation. 
Some distance up the Coast, in the great pineapple district of 
Eden and Jensen, the obstructing dune consists of silicious sand. 
Southward tlie rim is not pure limestone in every instance but a 
calcareous sandstone, that is, granules of silicious sand cemented 
together with lime. 

Before further describing the Everglades, let me quote from 
my notes made a few years ago, while visiting the Landes of 
France. Not only are the physical conditions similar, but there 
was the same opposition at the start. As in the case of the 
Everglades, the w^ork in France was pushed by the personal 
initiative and persistency of one or two men, and the method of 
securing the funds fur the purpose was very much the same. In 
the early part of the last century (before 1857), the condition of 
the flat, triangular plain known as the Landes, which is roughly 
bounded l)y the Bay of Biscay, the River Adour and the River 
Garonne, and the Medoc, was, in brief, as follows : There w^ere 
miles of marshy, almost treeless wastes, covered mainly with a 
low growtli of herbage. It was wet. unhealthy and sparsely 
inhabited. The few people who lived there depended upon their 
flocks. The accompanying ])icture shows a native of the Landes 
standing upon stilts, watching his sheep. He is dressed in a 
heavy sheepskin paletot. By standing on stilts, these shepherds 
can easily see their sheep in the bushes and grass, and can easily 
follow them through wet and marshy regions. Their spare time 
is spent in knitting stockings. The condition of the Landes is 
due to the immense sand dunes, which arrayed themselves along 
the shore of the Bay of Biscay. They moved inland, covered 
villages and occluded inlets. Bremontier tells of a dune which 
advanced in a violent tempest at the rate of two feet in three 
hours. The damage done by these moving sands so increased 
that the government officials studied tlic work and devised and 
executed plans; and now. thanks to De X'illcrs, lliamlirelent and 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

Bremontier, the pioneer workers, the Dunes and Landes are cov- 
ered with a beautiful growth of the maritime pine. The region 
is now a famous health resort, combining the beauties and pleas- 
ures of the seashore with those of a well-managed pine forest, 
which extends almost to the edge of the ocean. 

There are evidences that originally the Dunes were fixed 
naturally by forests. These forests were destroyed by vandals, 
and all attempts to stop these menacing mountains of sand 
failed. In 1778 a talented engineer, Baron Charlevoix de Villers, 
was sent to Arcachon for the purpose of forming a military post. 
He saw at once the necessity of fixing the sand, and was, accord- 
ing to Grandjean, the first to establish the fact that the way to 
fix the Dunes is by means of plantations of pine. He met with 
troubles in his work, and was finally sent, back to the Island 
of Santo Domingo. 

In 1784, Bremontier began the work, and it is said that, by 
using the results of De A'illers' labors, he finally succeeded in 
fixing the moving sand. 

The fixation of the Dunes rendered possible the work of M. 
Chambrelent, which was the reclamation of the Landes by drain- 
age and plantings. It is a unique example of personal initia- 
tive. M. Chambrelent, a young engineer in the Department of 
Bridges and Roads, in 1837, was sent to the Gironde to study 
the drainage of 800,000 hectares of land in the districts of Gas- 
cony and the Landes. His conclusions were not accepted, so he 
bought some land and put in efi^ect the measures he advocated. 
In 1855, the results of his experiments were submitted to an 
international jury. The jury was so favorably impressed that 
it recommended the application of Chambrelent's plans for the 
entire region, and in 1857 a law was passed requiring the Com- 
munes to do this work. The Communes paid for it by selling a 
part of this land, which increased in value after the completion 
of the work. This region was 100 meters above sea level, flat 
and sandy. It was underlain with a hard-pan called "'alios." In 
summer it was a bed of burning sand, in winter in a state of 
constant inundation, while between the two w^as a period of pes- 
tilence. The country was characterized by sterility and 
insalubrity. 

5 




TAPPING A PINK FOR RESIN IN THE LANDES OF FRANCE. 

CATCH THE PITCH. 



NOTE THE CUPS TO 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

A complete system of drain ditches was dug and the seeds of 
pine were sown. In 1865 all works of drainage were complete. 
By the fixation of the Dunes and the drainage of the Landes 
650,000 hectares of land were made productive. Formerly, if 
one wished to buy land he mounted a hill and called in a loud 
voice ; the land over which his voice carried was worth 25 francs. 
"A man," says Grandjean. "was forced to take some of this sand 
for a debt. He became a millionaire later by selling it in small 
parcels." The first summers, the visitors lived in the resin- 
gatherers' cabins; now every luxury is afiforded the 200,000 
tourists who come there every year. In the Landes a man could 
buy a farm for a few francs, but it required over two acres to 
support one sheep. In less than a century the population sex- 
tupled, while that of a large part of the rest of the country 
either remained stationary or decreased. The fecundity of the 
French in places wdiere there is plenty of room and opportunity 
is proverbial, as in Canada; it is even so in the Landes, which, 
on being reclaimed, was equivalent to a new province or colony. 
All along the East Coast of Florida there are dunes of snow- 
white sand covered with scrujj pines and palmettoes. This fine, 
white, silicious sand, although naturally sterile, is excellent for 
the growth of pineapples in regions where there is sufficient 
warmth. Mile after mile of this sand along the line of the rail- 
road between the Everglades and the sea is used in the cultiva- 
tion of pineapples, which are fed a balanced ration of fertilizer, 
just as cows are fed a balanced ration of feed for the produc- 
tion of high-grade milk. 

The great Everglades basin, extending from Lake Okeecho- 
bee to Miami and westward to the Gulf of Mexico, contains 
3,000,000 acres, more or less. The whole cultivated area of the 
State of Florida is estimated at only about a million acres. The 
Everglades are larger than Porto Rico or Jamaica and as big 
as Rhode Lsland and Delaware combined. This great area is 
mainly confined by dunes of sand and ridges of limestone rock. 
These ridges, like fingers, project into the Everglades and are 
usually covered with pine. Between these ridges are small glades 
on the edge of the main or "big glade." The accepted definition 

7 



THE E\'ERGLADES 

of a glade is a narrow strip of grassy land between forests. 
Glade refers to a grassy area. The big glade is all or "ever" 
glade. In this way, no doubt, the term of Everglade originated. 
Here and there in the Everglades are islands covered with rich 
jungle or hammock hardwood growth. On these islands the 
Seminoles clear small areas, where they raise their crops. 

We visited the Everglades from Fort Lauderdale. It was 
after a long period of heavy rains, and the mosquitoes were bad 
in the pine woods. We ascended the New River, a beautiful, 



/•^ 



."f^r 




IMIIAX KAMII.\ iX CAXOKSOX MIAMI IVIVKK. 

winding stream, generally deep, but very deep in places, one spot 
having a depth of eighty-five feet. The banks were quite low 
and sandy and lined with moss-draped cypress, oak. maple, mag- 
nolia. c()C()-])lum. ])iin(l-a])])k'. etc. After a short ride we reached 
the beginning of the drainage work — one long canal ran north- 
westward, with the dredge Everglades, another due westward, 
witli the dredge Okeechobee, at work. These canals will run about 
twenty miles out into the Glades and will be met by a canal run- 
ning north and south from Lake Okeechobee to a point about 

8 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

twenty miles west of Miami. The dredge Miami is now at 
work at the head of the Miami River; another dredge is at work 
on the West Coast, opening the old Disston Canal into Lake 
Okeechobee. 

As these canals are finished, dams are made to hold back 
the water to facilitate dredging, showing rather a surprising 
amount of fall and how effective these canals will prove in dis- 
charging the floods of water from this big area. I understand 



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p 




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A CVPUKSS ISLAND IN" THE EVF.RGLADICS 



that the CovcrnuK'nt will permit the level of Lake Okeechobee 
to be lowered only four feet, since a federal appropriation has 
been made to dredge the Kissimmee River, which empties into 
the northern part of the lake. 

There were no moscjuitoes in the Everglades during our 
visit, and crops already growing on the land, owned by eager 
settlers, show what can be done on land only partially drained, 

9 



THE EVERGLADES 

Western capitalists mainly have bought this land ; the money 
from the sales is doing the work, and the further it progresses 
the more the land will bring and the more eager people will be 
to get hold of it. The Board of Internal Improvement is wisely 
holding back much of the land from sale, knowing full w-ell that 
as time goes on it wall increase in value and thus yield ample 
funds for the continuation of this important work. In many 
cases the state has sold only the alternate sections. 

There are agents at work selling this land in every State in 
the Union. Men of wealth and influence are behind this project. 
If any one doubts its feasibility, he should come to Florida and 
see with his own eyes. Much praise is due ex-Governor Brow- 
ard for his work in this line, and in the years to come he will 
shine forth as the governor who really did something to add to 
the productivity and worth of his State. The man who makes 
two blades of grass grow where only one grew before is the 
proverbial public benefactor; but the man who, by his energy 
and foresight inaugurates a movement to render 3,000.000 acres 
of waste land highly productive deserves endless commendation 
in this day, W'hen we talk so much about the conservation of 
nature's resources. Mr. Broward is a masterful promoter; the 
keynote of his campaign was drainage ; he worked at it inces- 
santly while in office, and he has been working at it ever since, 
and has made good. 

We must not forget that this reclamation is in a land of 
perpetual summer in the only part of the mainland of the 
United States which is truly tropical, and where the productive 
capacity of the land is many times greater than in northern 
climes ; where not only a greater quantity, but a much greater 
variety of crops can be produced than elsewhere in this country. 

This may be far-fetched, but I can picture in my mind's 
eye long avenues of Eucalyptus. Australian pine and royal palms 
along these canals ; great masses of Hibiscus, Allamanda, Ole- 
ander, Bouganvillea. Poinciana, and countless other resplendent 
ornamentals around thousands of neat homes surrounded by 
fields of peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, celery, onions, okra, arrow- 
root, tobacco, etc.; also, no doubt, orange and grapefruit groves, 

10 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

as well as choice mangoes, avocadoes. and other tropical fruits. 
The canals filled with boats will lead to Miami and Biscayne 
Bay, the Arcachon and Biscay of Florida. 

The land of the moccasin, alligator and Seminole will see a 
great transformation in a very short time— it does not take long 
in a tropical country, especially on land where there is no forest 
to clear. 

It is more than a drainage scheme, since by means of dams 
and locks the water table may be kept at all times just where it 
is needed for irrigation purposes. The land is level, fertile, and 
free from alkali and other injurious minerals. The canals serve 
the triple purpose of drainage, irrigation and transportation. 

The soil is usually a black muck, in places several feet in 
thickness ; under this is usually a layer of marl ; under the marl, 
sand, and under the sand, limestone rock. There is considerable 
mineral matter mixed with this muck, and, although it will shrink 
some, I doubt if the shrinkage will ever prove a serious draw- 
back. By the application of lime, the cultivation of legumes, 
etc., this soil can be kept at a maximum state of fertility, so that 
five acres would be ample for the support of an ordinary family. 
' The water of the Everglades is usually heavily charged wath 
lime, which is deposited on the surface of everything in a fine, 
fiocculent state during the period of overflow. This deposit, 
added to the muck, no doubt, contributes much to the c|uality of 
the soil. There are deposited also the shells of many fresh- 
water mollusks. In short, with the fertile, easily worked soil. 
an abundance of water for irrigation, a tropical, healthful cli- 
mate, canals for transportation purposes, all within easy access, 
by both water and land, to our great northern markets, there is 
a combination of favorable conditions which probably cannot be 
equaled elsewhere in the whole world. 

And lo ! the poor Seminole ; what of him ? At best, he is 
merely a renegade; and the time will- soon come when he will 
have to put on pants and go to work on the land, join his rela- 
tives in Oklahoma, or die from the effects of too much bad 
whisky. 

11 



THE EVERGLADES 

The following is a fitting tribute to the work of Broward 
from the Atlanta Georgian: 

"Napoleon R. Broward, the beloved Florida statesman, whose 
untimely death took place a few days ago, was the apostle of 
reclaiming Southern swamp lands — a pioneer in the work of 
saving the great inundated tracts to tlie productive resources of 
the South. 

"It was the dream of his life to do this for his State — to 
change the hundreds of square miles of the Everglades from a 
dreary waste of bog and morass to gardens teeming with fruits 
and vegetables — to make two useful plants grow where none 
grew before. 

"It was a dream worthy tlie best quality of constructive 
statesmanship. He not only dreamed this dream, but he set 
about to put it into reality. He took it and his plan for its 
realization before the people of his State. 

"He met with cries that the ])uilder always meets — Tt can't 
be done. Drain the Everglades? Absurd!" 

'.'But the people had faith in him and his policies and they 
won. He was elected governor and secured the necessary legis- 
lative enactments to put his plan of draining the Everglades 
into operation. 

"It has been a success. Its effect is the same as if some great 
fertile island were gradually rising out of the ocean to add itself 
to Florida's riches. It is an ever-increasing source of income 
direct to the State and a source of additional thousands of inhab- 
itants and additional millions of invested capital. 

"In anticipation of its progress, land now under water and a 
few^ years ago worse than worthless is now selling for prices that 
are remarkable under the circumstances. 

"Broward was a pioneer in a movement that is going to mean 
much for every Southern State. In the South there are 87,000 
square miles of swamp lands. In Georgia alone there are 4,210 
square miles or 2,694.400 acres. Making these lost acres serve 
the use of man and the good of civilization is a w'orthy task. 
Broward, tlie ])ioneer, has ])ointed the way. Let the leaders in 
every Southern State follow it." 

12 



Written for Forestry and Irrigation in 1904. 

CHAPTER II. 
SOUTHERN FLORIDA. 

NOTES ON THE FOREST CONDITIONS OF THE SOUTHERNMOST PART 
OF THIS REMARKABLE PENINSULA. 

CCORDING to the report of the Biological 
Survey of the United States Department of 
Agriculture, there are three regions in the 
United States which belong to the Tropical 
Zone. One is in Southern Texas close to the 
mouth of the Rio Grande, another is along the 
Colorado River in Arizona and California, and 
the other in Southern Florida. 
The first two are hot and arid, the other is humid and pleas- 
ant throughout the major portion of the year. The southern- 
most part of Florida can rightfully claim, therefore, the dis- 
tinction of being the only humid or truly tropical part of the 
mainland of the United States — the only tropical part of this 
country which can be reached by rail. Early geographers arbi- 
trarily made the frigid zones and torrid zone the same number 
of degrees and then divided the balance of degrees left over 
between the two temperate zones. The lines called the tropics 
of Capricorn and Cancer, although of course perfectly straight 
on the map, are really very crooked and very difficult to defi- 
nitely locate. Some claim that the frost line is the limit; if this 
be so no part of Florida is in the tropics, since frost has occurred, 
in spots at least, throughout the whole peninsula. The best 
guide is the character of the vegetation, and wherever the coco 
palm, avocado, mango, pineapple, and hundreds of other strictly 
or cliaracteristically tropical plants flourish and fruit without 
protection, the region is truly tropical. 

The territory referred to in this article is unique in another 




13 



THE EVERGLADES 

respect. It is the only region of coral formation in the United 
States. These two peculiarities combine to render it a region of 
extreme interest to foresters and botanists. Here is field for 
research for many years to come, where many phases of plant 
ecology may be studied to better advantage than elsewhere on 
the continent. One can pass through all the climatic zones from 
the boreal to the tropical in going from the region of the pro- 
posed Appalachian Park to Biscayne Bay in a little more than 
twenty-four hours. Were the roads all good, it would be little 
more than a pleasant automobile trip. 

The part of Florida to which this article refers lies between 
the Everglades and the Florida Strait, and includes the territory 
around Miami, and southward to Cape Sable, including many 
coral keys, mangrove islands, and wooded islands in the Ever- 
glades. 

The vegetation of this district from a forestry standpoint 
may be divided into three distinct types — the hammock, the pine- 
land, and the mangrove swamp. It is, of course, impossible in 
so short a space to give more than a superficial description of 
these types. 

The hammock is undoubtedly the climax forest. It repre- 
sents the type that the rest would in time become were it not 
for fire, flood and other detrimental and retarding influences. 

The hammock is a tropical jungle, consisting of species of 
trees characteristic of the Antillean Flora. Most of these species 
produce a vigorous coppice, and the ground is covered with a 
rich black mold resulting from the leaves and detritus of these 
hardwoods. Jt is in tlie hammock where one finds mastic, crab- 
wood, satin-leaf, gumbo-limbo, princewood, whitewood, man- 
chineel, and many other rare and in many instances valuable 
woods. 

This hammock may be found in patches in the pineland, on 
islands in the Everglades, and on the keys north of Bahia Honda. 
Strange to say, the southernmost keys are like the pineland of 
the mainland in character. Sand Key, seven miles to the 
southwest of Key West, is the southernmost point in the United 
States. Although all the keys north of Bahia Honda were once 

14 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

covered with a dense tropical growth, much of it has been cut 
for pineapple clearings. In many places, especially on Key 
Largo, it is still in virgin condition. Wherever these keys are 
above tidewater, the growth is hammock; when subject to over- 
flow, it is mangrove swamp. Some keys are all hammock; 
others are all mangrove, and others have hammock centers 
fringed with mangrove. 

For half a century the timber on these keys has been cut, 
allowed to dry, and is then burnt. In the ashes a fine crop is 
produced, and fertilizers have never been used. The fact that 
pineapple patches are very combustible has caused these natives 
to burn cautiously. In referring to the vegetation of these keys, 
I cannot refrain from quoting the following from an article by 
the botanist Curtiss in "Garden and Forest," volume I, page 279: 

"A person who is acquainted only with the vegetation of 
more northern states, or with that of Northern Florida in trav- 
ersing these keys, will find scarcely a tree or herb identical with, 
or even resembling those with which he has been acquainted. 
He may hear familiar names in use by the inhabitants, such as 
cherry and cedar, but on examination he will find the species 
thus designated to be entirely difit'erent from those which he has 
known by such names before. The curiosity is piqued at every 
step by some unfamiliar and interesting form of vegetation, and 
if the tourist be accompanied by one of the inhabitants he will 
learn much of the popular lore regarding names and uses, for 
these people are remarkably intelligent in regard to the vege- 
table and animal life of the region they inhabit. It will be found 
that almost all the adult inhabitants come from the Bahamas, 
that nearly all the trees and other plants are common to those 
islands, and, in short, that these islands have much more in 
common with the Lesser Antilles than with the Florida mainland. 

"A tour of the Florida Keys reveals nature and society under 
such peculiar conditions that any one who has never visited this 
insular region may rest assured that there remains in store for 
him at least one source of novel and enjoyable experience, 
though he may have traversed the mainland of the United 
States from Maine to California. As regards conformation and 

15 



THE E\T.RGLADES 

soil, the inhabitants and their pursuits, the surrounding waters 
and the marine life they support, these coral islands differ essen- 
tially from all other portions of our vast country ; but in no 
particular do they present so striking a dissimilarity as in the 
vegetation which covers them." 

In spite of the mosquitoes these keys are charming places, 
especially Elliott's, which is bounded on one side by the waters 
of Biscayne Bay and on the other by the straits of Florida. 
They are protected from storms by a chain of coral reefs. Near 
at hand are the famous Sea Gardens. 

The pineland. although less rich and luxuriant in growth, is 
also peculiarly interesting. The rocky ridges or reefs, with 
sandy swales in between, are covered with pine and palmetto. 
The pine, strange to say, seems to shun the sandy swales. The 
sand of these swales is underlain usually with a reddish cal- 
careous clay, resulting from the disintegration of the coral rock. 
This rock may be found in all stages of disintegration. In the 
swales the palmetto is most luxuriant, and no doubt the absence 
of the pines in these places is due to this fact. The regenera- 
tion of these pines, in spite of fire and rock, is generally good. 
Tlie pines grow right on the rock, the roots penetrate its crevices, 
and the tree is anchored to such extent that when it upturns the 
rock sometimes upturns with it. 

On the keys the soil is crumbled coral, and coral sand. On 
the mainland it is a limestone as soft in places as chalk and as 
hard in otiiers as flint. In places it seems stratified or in plates 
'and lifts out in good flat building stones, which harden on ex- 
posure ; in others it is jagged, honeycombed, and filled with pot- 
holes and pockets ; in others it is coquina-like in character, and 
in others has an oolitic structure. 

The pine is Cuban pine {Pimis Elliottii). It does not yield 
resin satisfactorily, and is therefore not tapped. The wood is 
often so heavy that it sinks in water, and on the whole is one 
of the meanest woods on earth to work with. The heart or light 
wood is durable, but it warps to such extent and is so hard when 
dry that it is cut. hauled to the mill, sawed into boards, and used 
for constructive purposes just as soon as possible. 

16 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

It is almost impossible to drive a nail into the dry wood with- 
out splitting it, and in order to saw it one must flood the tools 
with kerosene to prevent gumming. Mechanics shun it, although 
many people use it because of its cheapness. The sapwood 
soon rots and leaves a heavy, durable heart, which is in great 
demand for posts, ties, poles and fuel. Much of it is used in 
burning the coral rock into lime, and much of it is burnt up in 
the clearing simply to get rid of it. The "log-rolling" stage is 
still on in this district. In many cases it is blasted down with 
dynamite and then burnt ; in others it is "deadened" and then 
burnt standing. It would probably pay to distill this wood, since 
it could be secured cheaply and would yield large quantities of 
tar. 

Fire sweeps over these pine regions frequently. The pine 
needles, grass and palmettoes burn like tinder. The dry pine bark 
and rotten sapwood hold fire like punk. Fire gets down in the 
crevices of the rock, so that it is next to impossible to extinguish 
it. The efifect of fire on this rock is peculiar. It becomes a 
potent geological agent. It converts the rock into lime, which 
slakes when wet by rain or dew. In burning piles of brush, 
rocks are often thrown into the heap to check the flames or pre- 
vent the wind from blowing sparks. These rocks are burnt 
with the wood and crumble into soil. 

This rock crumbles into soil in the presence of decomposing 
organic matter. By the use of velvet beans, dynamite, and hard 
grubbing by Bahaman darkies, the roughest, most hopeless look- 
ing rock-bed may be converted into productive soil. 

There ought to be considerable nitrogen present in this soil, 
since the ground is often covered with thirty or more species of 
creeping legumes. There must be potash somewhere, since the 
palmetto ash is extremely rich. Few things will grow, how- 
ever, in this rock without the help of fertilizer. Plant-food 
materials may be there, but they are not available. The rock is 
usually wet, even in the driest times. In fact, under the limestone 
ridge there are channels of water running from the Everglades 
and bubbling out in the form of springs along the shores of 
Biscayne Bay. 

17 



THE EVERGLADES 

All this pineland would in time become hammock, no doubt, 
were it not for forest fires. One can find all stages between the 
true hammock type and the pineland. Where pineland has been 
protected from fire, it becomes hammock-like in character. 

The type of forest called mangrove consists in places of pure 
red mangrove, the great land-former, but gradually merges into 
forest similar to hammock. The vegetation of the mangrove 
swamp consists of those species which can stand a salt-water 
bath occasionally. They are located on mud lands which are 
being gradually wrested from the sea. The red mangrove is 
chief among those plants which can thrive in salt water. With 
it, however, are often associated the coco palm, the seeds of 
which float in, become covered with wet seaweed, and then sprout 
and grow together with buttonwood, black mangrove, sea grape, 
and others. There are hundreds of thousands of acres of land 
in which mangrove predominates. Fringing these mud lands 
are often sand beaches. In the course of time, when this land 
becomes high and dry by the continued deposit of vegetable 
detritus, other trees, such as grow in the hammock, gain a foot- 
hold and spread. 

Back of the rock ridge, which stretches along the coast from 
the region of Miami southward, is that vast territory called the 
Everglades. The extension of tree growth on the Everglades 
has been restrained by an excess of fresh water. With drain- 
age the hammock islands will quickly extend. A very large pro- 
portion of the tropical hammock trees of South Florida are berry 
producers. Such seeds are quickly disseminated by birds and 
other animals. In the Everglades there are hammock islands, 
on some of which the Seminole Indians live. This Everglade 
region, it is claimed, contains 3,760,000 acres. Since ten acres or 
less is sufficient for the support of a family in this climate, there is 
room for 376,000 families. The whole cultivated area of Flor- 
ida is estimated at 1,000,000 acres. It is interesting to compare 
the size of this wild territory with other parts of the world. 
For instance, the Everglades cover 5,875 square miles ; Porto 
Rico, 3,550 square miles; Rhode Island, 1,250 square miles; 
Delaware, 2,050 square miles ; Jamaica, 4.207 square miles. 

18 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

When this area is once properly reclaimed there will be little 
of it which can not be cultivated. The complete drainage of 
these Everglades is not only being seriously considered, but is 
actually in progress. The following on the "Drainage of the 
Everglades" is from a recent issue of Success, by J. E. Ingra- 
ham, one of the vice-presidents of the Florida East Coast Rail- 
road : 

"There are great agricultural possibilities in tlie Florida 
Everglades. Though they are yet merely an expansive waste of 
swamp and lake and jungle, I venture to predict that they will be 
the location of hundreds of fertile farms within ten years, and 
will by degrees develop into one of the most productive tracts 
of land in the world. The barrier to the utilization of the Ever- 
glades has been, of course, the water which covers the greater 
part of them to a depth of from one to six feet; but it has been 
found entirely practicable to drain ofif the water. Work to this 
end has alread\' been begun and is being pushed rapidly. When 
it is completed a tract of land one hundred and sixty miles long 
and sixty wide will have been opened to cultivation. The size of 
this region is not as important as the remarkable productivity of 
the soil. The latter is not only absolutely virgin, but has been 
fertilized by animal and vegetable life through many centuries. 
I am confident that its crops will lift Florida to a place among 
the leading agricultural states. 

"The project of draining the Everglades attracted the atten- 
tion of Henry B. Plant in the early nineties, but he was by no 
means sure that the scheme was feasible, so I, acting under his 
direction, undertook an expedition through the region. Despite 
its proximity to centers of population, it was then for the first 
time thoroughly explored by white men. Ours was virtually a 
voyage of discovery. W^e paddled our light boats on lakes and 
camped on islands that, I have good reason to believe, had never 
before been visited by any human beings but Seminole Indians, 
and by these but rarely. We underwent so many hardships that 
some of our party were compelled to turn back, but our eflForts 
were not in vain, for we ascertained the important fact that the 
Everglades, along the whole 160 miles of the eastern side, are 

19 



THE EVERGLADES 

rimmed by a rock ledge. We furthermore learned that all of the 
lakes are several feet above sea level, and we decided that there 
was nothing whatever to prevent the water of the lakes from 
Rowing into the ocean and leaving the land drained if vents could 
be made in this long ledge of rock. The chief question before 
us pertained to the practicability of cutting through the ledge in 
various places, and dredging out outlets into the Atlantic, which 
is not more than two or three miles away at numerous points. 

"Experiment proved that this work would present no great 
difficulties. It was merely a matter of a great deal of digging. 
Henry M. Flagler took up the project, and it is being carried out 
by his lieutenants. We are not only making artificial outlets 
through the rock, but are also, by ditching and dredging, turning 
large bodies of water into rivers and creeks which flow to the 
ocean. The work has progressed far enough to enable me to 
predict confidently the opening in Florida, within a very few 
}ears, of a great tract of land of almost unprecedented fertility." 

When one considers what the Bermudas yield, with only 
twenty square miles of rocky land, the possibilities of this great 
Southern tropical peninsula seem almost limitless. The whole 
region is one of great interest, and although one of the first to be 
explored and partly settled it has remained dormant until lately. 
Settlement is difficult, but gradually obstacles are being over- 
come, and when competition in transportation facilities develops, 
the boom will be on in earnest. 

This region of perpetual summer is also the natural gateway to 
the West Indies, and the great peninsula of Florida, like a huge 
finger, directs the way to fertile regions beyond, awaiting Amer- 
ican capital and enterprise. 



20 



From La Hacienda, igii. 




CHAPTER III. 

TREES AS AN AID TO DRAINAGE. 

LL trees, in fact all kinds of vegetation, trans- 
pire. Although a large part of the body of all 
plants is water (96 per cent in plants like the 
banana ) . a still larger quantity is absorbed by 
the roots and is again discharged by the leaves 
into the air. This passage of water into the 
air from the leaf surface of the plant is called 
transpiration. Water absorbed by the roots 
contains the nutrient substances of the soil. There is thus a 
current of water from soil to air through vegetation which is 
known, botanically, as the transpiration current. This keeps the 
plant turgid. \Vhen evaporation from the leaves is in excess of 
the supply from the roots, or in other words, when there is no 
transpiration current, due to an insufficiency of water, the tender 
parts of the plant wilt. The cells of the tender rootlets of 
plants not only absorb this watery solution but have a selective 
power in choosing from the many mineral substances contained 
in the moisture of the soil, the kinds and quantities needed for 
the use of the plant. If even one necessary element is absent 
the plant dies of starvation. These substances are left in the 
plant for the manufacture of w^ood and fruit, while the water 
which has served as the vehicle of transmission evaporates from 
the leaf surface of the tree. The actual source of the power of 
this great transpiration force is still unknown. It is a mighty 
pump that will lift enormous quantities of water from the roots 
through the wood to the topmost branches of a tree two hundred 
and fifty feet in height. In fact, every tree is a natural pump 
with many valves. The power that does the pumping is simply 
another one of the great problems in plant life which remain 



21 



THE E\^ERGLADES 

to be soh'efl. The leafage is a broad surface spread out to the 
sun and air. In addition there are numerous stomata (air- 
pores) which increase the porousness and promote evaporation 
of moisture from the surface. These air-pores or stomata open 
and close to suit the needs of the plant. The leaves and green 
twigs are then the special organs of transpiration. 

The water evaporated in the five months from June to No- 
vember from an oak standing perfectly free and apart and 
liaving about 700,000 leaves has been estimated at 111.225 kilo- 
grams. This is equivalent to about a quarter of a million pounds 
of water. 

A clover plant has been found to give ofT in one day twice its 
weight of water. A crop of hay on one acre producing two tons 
has been found to use during its growing season more than six 
hundred tons or wagon loads of water. 

Storer in a chapter in his work on agriculture on "Trees as 
Pumping Engines" cjuotes that a single oak in Germany in about 
five months transpired 264.000 pounds of water, or about eight 
and one-third times the amount that fell in rain on the surface 
it occupied. He mentions another oak tree that transpired 4,400 
I)ounds of water in a single summer's day. 

Some trees transpire more than others, and. of course, in a 
climate of continuous summer, transpiration throughout the year 
is enormous. Rapidity of growth is determined by the amount 
of moisture available. The amount transpired depends upon 
the supply of water, the rate of growth and the condition of the 
atmosphere. Given then a wet soil, a fast growing tree, such 
as a cedrela or eucalytpus or any one of a hundred or more fast 
growing tropical trees, with a dry. windy atmosphere, and you 
will have a puni]) working quietly and constantly that would 
rival a windmill. 

In a parliamentary paper relating to Xatal is the following 
statement: "Clumjjs of eucalyptus planted in undrained swamp 
lands at elevations up to 4.000 feet have lieen known "to com- 
plctel\- dry up the si)ace within reach of their roots." 

I have heard it said that in India eucalyptus trees were 
planted along an irrigation ditch. Tliese trees robbed the ditch 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

of so much water that they were cut down. The region around 
San Paulo delle Tre Fontane, it is claimed, was drained and rid 
of pestilential fevers by the planting of eucalyptus. Along the 
Mediterranean shore I have found the belief prevalent that 
eucalyptus plantations keep ofif fever. Miiller speaks of the 
cajeput tree (Melaleuca Iciicodcndron) as the "anti-malarial tree." 
Many attributed this effect to emanations of oil from the leaves. 
It is a "poor lie that is devoid of all truth" and it is a poor popu- 
lar belief that is not based on some shadow of fact or reason. 

I think the modern development of medical science proving 
the causes and manner of transmission of tropical fevers explains 
it all. 

In order to contract malaria or yellow fever one must be 
bitten by an infected moscjuito. The notion that these fevers are 
carried by miasmatic emanations from swamp lands no longer 
holds. 

To keep off fevers either one of two things is necessary — 
remove all mosquitoes that are infected or remove or segregate 
all people that can infect the mosquito. 

The mosquito does not travel far. He must have water to 
breed in. Undrained land furnishes the breeding place. In the 
Roman Campagna the water was held in pockets and the land 
was difficult to drain by ditches. Trees were planted. They 
drained the land, the mosquito was left without a breeding 
place and without him, or rather her, since the female does the 
mischief, the fever was not transmitted. 

The eucalyptus has been singled out as the great genus for 
this purpose, but there are other trees of quite as much value, 
which I shall mention later. 

Eucalyptus rostrafa, the red gum. is a favorite because it 
grows on moist ground with a clay subsoil. It will grow on land 
subject to fresh water inundations for a considerable time. In 
Mauiitius it resisted hurricanes better than other species. It 
yields a heavy wood, which is highly esteemed in Australia. 

Eucalyptus resinifcra. the red mahogany gum. has proved 
best for the tropics. It is not, however, such a rapid grower. It 
yields a good timber, but has an unfortunate common name. It 

23 



THE EVERGLADES 

should not be called mahogany, because it does not belong in the 
same class with this time-tried prince of timbers. It should not 
be called gum because the term gum to many minds carries with 
it little to recommend it. 

In Cuba I found a eucalypt growing with magical rapidity. 
It was the fastest growing eucalypt I have ever seen in the 
tropics. An expert of the Department of Agriculture. Washing- 
ton, D. C. diagnosed it to be Eucalyptus crebra, the narrow 
leaved iron-bark tree of Xew South Wales and Queensland. 
I am not sure that he is right. 1)ut if he is this species is the 
one to plant in Western Cuba. In our excitement over the euca- 
lyptus, some of the many species of which are good for certain 
special districts, such as Southern California and Mexico, we 
have overlooked other Australian and American trees which are 
quite their e(|uals. if not in many instances by far their superiors. 

We have many species of the order Myrtaccac. U) wliich the 
eucalyptus belongs, so similar to eucalyptus that the novice could 
not tell the difference. For instance, the rose apple or pome- 
rosa and many otlier species of the genus Rugcnia and allied 
genera, which have large seeds, grow very rapidly, and yield 
fruit as well as wood. 

Any quick-growing tree such as the cedrela or cigar-box 
cedar will pump just as much, if not more, water than the euca- 
lyptus. The Australian pine is a hue tree for swamp lands. It 
is storm fast, grows very quickly, in fact faster than any euca- 
lyptus in Florida, and yields a fine, hard wood. 

Melaleuca Icucodcudroii, the cajeput tree of India, which 
yields the cajeput oil of commerce, is. according to Baron V. 
Mueller, a great tree for swamp lands. He thus speaks of it: 
"It can with great advantage be utilized for such areas for sub- 
duing malarial vapors in salt swamps where no eucalyptus will 
live." I have it growing successfully on the bay shore here in 
Florida. We have all noticed how the roots of trees will run to 
an old well and then form in great hair masses down its sides 
to the water below ; we have all noticed how the roots of quick 
growing trees such as the poplars and willows will go long dis- 
tances to a tile drain and fill it completely with hundreds of 

24 



AXD SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

rootlets; and we have all noticed how the roots of some trees 
will run out and under a pavement so persistently that they 
crack and ruin it. The rootlets are merely doing their part — 
hunting for nK)isture, so that the tree can hold up its head, and 
hunting for mineral food which is dilutely dissolved in the water 
which it drinks. When the earth fails to yield sufficient moisture 
and in consequence sufficient plant- food held in solution the 
tree begins to die at the top hrst — a condition called stagheaded- 
ness, wdiich is the beginning of the end. In the selection of soils, 
look up and not down. The height of the timber is usually a 
good measure of the soil's depth and fertility. ( )n an old home- 
stead in this region there was a well cut from the solid rock. 
By the side of this well a wild rubber grew. The w-ell was long 
ago abandoned and is now almost filled by its hose-like roots. 

In conclusion let me say that the greatest function of the for- 
est, aside from }'ielding materials useful to man, is soil better- 
ment. It holds the soil in place against the erosive action of 
wind and water, but wb.at is more important, the roots penetrate 
to the deeper layers of the soil, absorb the mineral substances 
and then deposit them again on the surface in the form of 
detritus, which soon becomes humus. Thus the surface soil is 
being constantly fed. thus the mineral ingredients of the soil are 
conserved and thus the wornout fields and ruinate lands of the 
tropics may be rejuvenated and rendered virgin. This deposit 
on the surface gradually raises the level and thus helps also in 
the process of drainage. 



25 




ox THE BKACH AT CAPK FLORIDA. (PHOTO BY HOMER SAIXT-GAUDE.VS.) 




COCO-PALM GROVi: OR "COCAL ON ONE OF THE KEYS. 
(PHOTO l!V FLORIDA PHOTOGRAPHIC CONCERN.) 



From the Garden Magazine, November, 1910. 

Copyright, 1910, Doubleday. Page & Co. 



CHAPTER IV. 
THE COCO PALM. 




T IS so much better to call this tree the "coco 
palm" than the "cocoanut palm tree." There 
seems also no reason for spelling coconut with 
a in it. The source of this word is probably 
not known, but when no other source is plaus- 
ible, ancient Greek or Latin is sought, and a 
possible origin is guessed at, for instance the 
Greek kokkus, a berry. As another instance 
the natives of the Bahamas are called "Conchs." apparently be- 
cause they are fond of the shellfish called conch, from the Latin 
concha, a shell. It more than likely comes from a very old 
Enghsh word similarly spelled, meaning a "beach thief," or 
"beachcomber." 

The use of an a in the word simply helps to confound it with 
cacao, coca, and a few other plant names with similar spelHng. 
The Spanish call it coco, and the German kokos-palmc. The 
generic name is Cocos. the specific name nucifcra, and when 
Linnaeus called it nuciferous, or nut-bearing, he perpetuated 
in its name its most striking quality. The use of the word "per- 
petuated" is good, since Cocos nucifera is one of the few plant 
names which have not been changed a dozen or more times by 
ardent botanists. 

From the standpoint of utility, the coco palm leads the pro- 
cession in the tree world. As to beauty, that depends altogether 
on the character of your art education. I have heard both the 
royal palm and coco palm likened to huge feather dusters set 
on end over the landscape. This much is certain — a coral strand 
without coco palms would look like Father Time without his 
whiskers. 



27 



THE EVERGLADES 

In spite of the fact that the fruits of the royal pahii are only 
used for pigfeed. this tree is more stately and aristocratic than 
the coco palm. It is perfectly straight, smooth, and columnar 
and well htted for avenues leading up to Southern mansions. 
The coco palm, on the other hand, is plebeian. It bends accom- 
modatingly at the start, and has pronounced ridges where the 
massive leaves have fallen away, which give the monkey-like 
pickaninny a good toehold. 

It is a fitting shade to the hut of a fisherman, for with a 
long-handled sponge hook he can pull down at any time a green 
nut which yields a cool, sweet, fresh, invigorating drink from 
nature's own distillery. Strange to say, this liquid is under 
pressure and, although there is not the decided "pop" which is 
always looked for in the case of a soft drink, there is a good 
active "sciuirt" indicating that the water is fresh and the nut 
sound. Inside, under the shell, which in this stage is just begin- 
ning to harden, there is a layer of soft nutritious jelly. 

The white meat of the ripe nut is used for candy, feed for 
animals, and, when ground very fine, makes a cream which is 
delicious on fruits, etc. I have seen chickens, goats, dogs, pigs, 
and pickaninnies all feeding in the same yard at the same time 
on the white meat of the coconut. 

The coco palm is a queer tree — it seems to love the winds 
and salt of the seashore ; yet some scientist has tried to prove 
that its home is inland on a high plateau in South America. 

It has been pictured in times past as a perfect adaptation to 
the seashore. What the date is to the desert, the coco palm is 
to the strand. The hard shell of the nut is filled with a rich oily 
meat which floats high. The germ is protected and well sup- 
plied with nutriment for the days of its youth. On the outside 
of the shell there is a pad of fiber which protects it when it falls 
to the hard coral strand. The nut will not break when it falls ; it 
bounds and rolls like a ball down the incline into the sea, and 
floats and floats and floats till washed on some muddy shore 
which the coral polyps, the waves, and the mangrove trees have 
been many a year in luaking. Then it is gradually covered with 
sand and seaweed by wind and wave. Soon the tree springs from 

28 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

one of the three eyes in the end of the nut. The leaves are at 
tirst simple, and in }'outh the tree needs shade, w hich it gets nat- 
urally from the bushes on the shore. Soon it throws out great 
compound leaves of woody texture, some of which are fully fif- 
teen feet in length. Think of leaves fifteen feet long! In a few 
years, seldom under five, it bears a bunch of nuts, followed by 
other biuiches in all stages of growth. 

Then the mangrove island is fit for human habitation, fit for 
the home of some smoky colored, semi-nude sea-islander, who 
from this palm can garner all the necessities and a few of the 
luxuries of life. With the fish in the sea by the shore, and the 
turtles that lie and lay on the beach, starvation is not possible. 
Man's ultimate wants are shelter, food, and drink. The coco 
palm supplies them all, with more besides. 

The Negro who lives in ,the shade of this useful tree has also 
fortunately developed a thick skull-shell, covered with a mat of 
tow. And well so, since the fall of a coconut from a sixty-foot 
palm is nigh like a ball from the cannon's mouth. A single 
fruit of the double coconut of the Seychelle Islands weighs 
from forty to fifty pounds. Our common coconut when green 
will weigh at least five pounds. Over in Brazil men wear buck- 
lers of wood to protect themselves from the fall of the balls of 
Brazil-nuts. These actually plant themselves when they hit the 
soft, moist earth of the jungle. 

Still there are scientists at work who have proved, to their 
own satisfaction at least, that the coconut does not float far, 
that it soon loses its vitality when soaked in salt water, that it 
rarely sprouts when washed upon the beach, and that it has been 
distributed completely round the globe mainly by the hand of 
man. 

The waves wash the tree half over, break over it with great 
fury and bang great booms against it in times of storm, but it 
lives on and bears on in spite of abuse. Dig it up carefully and 
pet it with fertilizer, and it will more than likely turn yellow and 
die. Cut ofif its tough fibrous roots to the stub, and cut ofif its 
leaves, then stick it in the ground as you would plant a fence- 
post, and it will verv likelv live. 

29 



THE EVERGLADES 

In Porto Rico the water of the green coconut is rehshed by 
everybody. It is almost a national beverage, and a wholesome 
germ-free beverage it is — absolutely free from chemical adulter- 
ation and ptomaine poisoning. All through the day and late at 
night in Porto Rican cities may be heard the welcome call of the 
coco-de-aqua vender. 

In some parts of the East the fruit stalks are cut while green 
and tender, and the stub is attached to a light bamboo trough. 
Several flower-stalks may be thus treated and several little 
troughs may be led to one spot where there is a receptacle in the 
form of a big gourd or calabash awaiting the liquid which oozes 
out and trickles down to form a cider or toddy. 

Could one imagine a state more seraphic to the minds of 
many men than a hut closely surrounded by coco plams with 
bamboo conduits leading this cidery juice slowly, but continu- 
ously, into a receptacle on the kitchen table? 

From the outside of the nut comes the husk or coir which is 
used for cordage and woven into tough matting for church aisles, 
office floors, etc. 

The oil w^hich is expressed from the copra, or dried meat of 
the nut, enters into butter, soap, etc. 

The hard shells are carved and used for utensils of various 
kinds. 

The trunk wood is poor and hard on tools. It is used, never- 
theless, because it is cheap and answers the purpose, although, 
of course, a fine full-bearing coco palm is never cut for its wood. 
It is called "porcupine wood" because it has hard bundles of 
tissue in it which, when cut on the slant, appear like spines in 
the wood. The heart is spongy, but the outer layer, although 
rough, is tough and durable. 

A coco palm usually bears a terrific weight of fruit, and bears 
it continuously, but if it fails the native hacks it or drives iron 
into it or cuts deep notches into the trunk, which at the same 
time facilitate climbing, and lo ! it bears — bears because its veg- 
etative activity has been restrained, and, like every other crea- 
ture on earth, it strives all the more to perpetuate its kind. 

Among the leaves around tlie stem tlicre is a natural cloth, to 

30 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 



be sure not woven with warp and woof, but of such a nature 
that primitive man could have easily taken the hint. I don't 
know whether this cloth is ever used for wearing apparel or 
not, certainly not in the majority of even remote regions where 
gunny sacks are plentiful. 

There are those who grow passionately fond of the coco 
palm, especially when grouped by the shimmering particolored 
sea 'of the tropics. There is nothing sorrowful about them; in 
the breeze they never emit a whining tune as do the pines, but a 




A CAMPHOR TREE. 

lusty clattering and banging. I heard an old sailor once say that 
he wanted to be buried in the shade of a coco palm by the shore. 
But like all good things on earth it has its tormentors. In 
parts of the West Indies it has fallen a prey to a fungous blight. 
Strong efforts are being used to check its spread, and close 
watch should be kept to prevent it from entering Floricia from 
Cuba, since in south Florida there are many coco palms, and 
many acres of land where they can be successfully planted. 

31 







ia^i 




1 t 


h^ ■ ; 



PICKING SAPODILLAS. (PHOTO BY PROF. JOHN CSAIG.) 




A LIMK TKKK OX ELLIOTTS KEY GROWING IN THE tOKAL KOCK. 
(PHOTO BY PROF. JOHN CRAIG.) 



From The Garden Magazine, Scpteynher, igio. 

Copyright, 1910, Doubleday, Page & Co. 




CHAPTER V. 

THE LIME AND SAPODILLA, COMMONLY CALLED 
"SOURS AND DILLIES." 

I SIT a conch fanner on the Florida Keys and 
the (Conversation will soon drift to the condi- 
tion oi iiis "sours and dillies." 

The "sours" or limes were planted long 
ago mainly for their acid juice which was 
cherished by seafaring folk to combat scurvy, 
while "dillies," the short for sapodillas, were 
grown because they have always been held 
in high esteem Ijy the natives, both black and white, of the Flor- 
ida Keys and the Bahama Islands. 

The buccaneerish taint in my blood got the upper hand when 
I bought a farm on tlie Keys, well stocked with limes, sapodillas, 
and coco palms, and a sloop which I named The Dilly. Since then 
my interest in sours and dillies has grown, in spite of devastating 
storms, tricky commission men, and long droughts. 

These two fruits grow together on the Keys among lime 
rocks of coral origin, where soil is often so scarce that on some 
acres, which one could easily select without wandering far, a 
man would have to scrape with a spoon for a whole day to get 
a barrow load. The rocks stick up as though the bones of 
mother earth were dry and bare, without skin or flesh of any 
kind. 

In the crevices of the rock there is some soil, and from the 
porous rock itself the plant must derive nourishment. At any 
rate, the lime tree produces sour limes, and the sapodilla tree 
sweet sapodillas, in great abundance. 

If one plows this soil he must use dynamite, and all weeding 
is done with a machete or a sailor's sheathknife. 



2>^ 



THE E\'ERGLADES 

In a moist season the little lime, hardly more than a seedling, 
is planted in a rock crevice or pot-hole. If the ocean keeps its 
place and the weeds are kept in check, the lime tree will thrive 
and in three years will blossom and fruit — a fruit with a deli- 
cious refreshing aroma which puts the lemon to shame. The 
lemon is a coarse, thick-skinned, rough, raggy and acrid prod- 
uct compared with the lime. School children in Boston eat 
limes pickled in salt-water, at recess". The lime is a naturally 
refined and delicate acid fruit. 

The lime is a spiny, semi-wild crop, although a spineless 
variety from Trinidad is being tried. It stands no frost and 
will not flourish if too carefully tended. No fertilizer except a 
little half-rotted seaweed, and no cultivation except a couple 
of weedings a year, are needed. Heavy crops of fruit are pro- 
duced almost every summer, often with a light winter crop, and 
the limes from the Keys are especially cherished because, unlike 
mainland limes, they will carry long distances without 
deterioration. 

The lime is thin-skinned, full of juice in proportion to rag, 
of a delicate inimitable aroma, and once a lime-convert the epi- 
cure forever after spurns the lemon. 

There is little trouble in getting them picked in spite of the 
mosquitoes and their needle-like thorns. 

The lime is in active demand because there is an unquench- 
able desire — the awful thirst which besets the American people 
in the summer time. Great pyramids of limes may be seen at 
almost every soda fountain where limeades are in vogue or at 
the club where the gin-rickey holds sway. A whole lime for a 
glass with the thin aromatic rind thrown in is the rule. For 
that reason big limes are not wanted, and then, limes are usually 
bought by the barrel and sold by the dozen. 

My crop last year on about four acres of land amounted to 
two hundred and some barrels. A flour barrel is the standard 
and holds about one hundred and twenty-five dozen limes. They 
netted me on the average $3.50 a barrel. They probably re- 
tailed at twenty cents a dozen, costing the consumer about 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

twenty-five dollars a barrel — a fair instance of the abysmal 
gulf between the consumer and producer. 

Limejuice has other uses than assuaging thirst. In the form 
of citric acid it is extensively used in manufacturing establish- 
ments. 

A little lime juice put in the water in which meat is boiled 
renders it more tender and palatable. 

Added to desserts, other fruits, jams, etc., it brings out their 
peculiar flavors and removes flatness. 

It offsets hardness in water. 

With salt it will clean brass and remove stains from the 
hands. 

It improves and whitens boiled rice and sago. It is a sooth- 
ing application to irritations caused by insect bites. It is better 
than vinegar as a salad dressing. It makes a cleansing tooth- 
w^ash diluted with water. It is good for the liver, useful in 
fevers, and they say a little limejuice in the water you drink is 
sure death to the typhoid bacillus ! 

And so I manage my lime plantation — a kind of laissez- 
faire system — but it pays a good interest. A new-comer would 
hardly notice it in passing. A colored man called Parson Jones, 
otherwise known as the Sultan of Caesar's Creek, has an eye on 
it. Every month or so I meet him in town, but his good wife, 
who picks limes also, has not been away from home for three 
years. Three or four times a year when we want to bathe in 
the briny parti-colored waters of the Keys or seek plunder on 
beachcombing expeditions along the shores, I drop in to look 
over my plantation and pick some green coconuts for the re- 
freshing liquid which they contain. My only concern is in sum- 
mer, awaiting returns from shipments. Sometimes the sales are 
disappointing, especially in the region of New York, if a ship 
has arrived with a cargo of "sours," each wrapped in brown 
paper, from the island of Santo Domingo. 

My sapodillas were planted because they yield a very sweet 
fruit and stand firm in the teeth of the gale. The trees are so 
dense and sturdy that they form a wind-shield and storm-break. 
Good dillies have a local sale of a penny each. Some are 



THE EVERGLADES 

smooth, light brown, with a pink bhish on one side, but many 
reseml)le a rusty-coat apple. The colored gentry will invest in 
this luxury even when grits are low in the larder. And the 
raccoons are so fond of them that ripe dillies on the trees are 
seldom found. 

Hut there is a future to the dilly beyond all this. The gum 
or milky juice of the tree is the basis of chewing-gum, and 
although the world at large may not be cognizant of this im- 
pending calamity, and although even the conservation commis- 
sion has not considered it. we are on the verge of a chewing- 
gum famine. The ])rice of this gum. called chicle, has risen, the 
(juantity given in a cake of gum has been reduced to the severest 
minimum, and adulteration has reached its maximum. Still the 
demand is beyond the sui)ply. 

The man who plants limes, with sapodillas for a wind-break, 
is actually, but perhaps unwittingly and indirectly, furnishing 
important ingredients for two articles not destined to uplift 
mankind — the gin-rickey and chewing-gum. 

In addition to yielding a sweet fruit and a valuable gum, the 
wood of the sapodilla tree is probabl}' as near everlasting as 
wood can be, in fact it outlasts many metals. Lintels of zapote, 
or sai:)odilla wood, in the ruins of Mexico are still hard and 
-Dund. having endured many centuries, ])robably v3.000 years. 

In a few years, no doubt, there will be many chicle planta- 
tions, under the control of companies inducing the unwary to 
part with tlieir coin on the ])r()mise of great future returns, as 
in the case of rubber. 

l^^ven now chicle figures in American stock reports, and 
American cliicle is Ixiught and sold in Wall Street by the side 
of stock of other great corporations. 



36 




A PAPAW TKEE FULL OF FRUIT. 



From The Garden Magazine, August, 1910. 

Copyright, 1910, Doubleday, Page &• Co. 




CHAPTER \"I. 

THE BANANA AND THE PAPAW. 

NEVER cease to marvel at the banana and 
j the papaw. Statisticians who have predicted 
U^ ^■i/cjhi'fl ^ famine from the increase of population 
?ii^**^B*KSi without a corresponding increase in the pro- 
duction of breadstuffs have neglected one 
potent factor — the banana. 

The papaw or papaya is another succu- 
lent, quick-growing, prolific tropical fruit- 
producer, belonging in the same class of marvels with the 
banana, but is not related to it. 

The banana has been the cause of the formation of steam- 
ship lines to the tropics ; it has caused the building of railroads 
within the tropics ; it has figured conspicuously in Spanish- 
American politics, and even the dreaded Black Hand is known 
to many as "the Society of the Banana." We are now importing 
$12,000,000 worth of bananas annually. 

The banana is marvelous because of its prolific nature, yet 
it forms no seeds, and the great bunch of foodstuff when not 
used by man or other animals simply rots, and the stalk which 
produced it dies to give space to another to repeat the, perform- 
ance. 

With me the banana is a favorite crop. I dig a deep hole 
in moist soil or muck. Into this hole I empty my waste basket 
containing old letters, newspapers, returned manuscripts, etc. ; 
also the kitchen barrel containing tin cans and other stufl: that 
the chickens will not eat ; then I throw in sweepings, rakings, 
old fertilizer bags, old iron, useless wood, bottles, and trash of 
any and every kind. On top of this I put a good forkful of 
stable manure and then some sand or muck. Then the banana 
root, often no bigger than your two fists, dry and lifeless-look- 
ing, after having been kicked about in the sun for a few days, 



38 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

waiting for planting time, is stuck into the ground and covered 
with a few inches of dirt. 

In three months, if the weather is good, you may sit in the 
grateful shade of this big green-leaved plant. I almost called it 
a tree, because its stalk is as big as a man's leg and its foliage 
may be several feet above your head, but according to the defini- 
tions a tree must have a central zuoody axis, and to the banana 
there is no woody texture ; it is all as soft as a cabbage and is 
usually completely consumed in a short time when left to 
chickens. 

Within a year a bunch of fruit is produced which a man 
can hardly carry — a bunch so big that it often bends the plant 
to the ground unless propped by forked sticks. As soon as the 
bunch and stalk are cut, up shoots another and another. A 
dozen or more suckers are at the same time produced so that 
more and more may be planted. What an active chemical labo- 
ratory this plant is to form so much leaf and stalk and fruit 
from soil and atmosphere in less than a year ! 

It is a sight seldom forgotten to see picturesque Indians in 
Central America working in banana plantations where the plants 
have met to form a forest-like canopy. In Mexico there are 
young coffee trees in the shade of these banana plants. I have 
seen the semi-nude Karif women of British Honduras meet the 
ship far from shore with their dugouts loaded to the gunwales 
with bananas. 

But the most marvelous kind of banana culture may be seen 
in the Bahamas, on the Island of Eleuthera. Here there are 
deep holes called "banana holes" some of which are fifty or 
sixty or more feet in depth. At the bottom of these holes is 
moist rich earth. They are just like deep dry wells. A banana 
root is planted in a basket of soil, which is lowered with a rope 
to the bottom. The root sprouts and the stem shoots up like 
magic till it reaches the top of the hole. Then the foliage spreads 
out in the sunshine like flowers in a vase. There it grows and 
forms its bunch protected from the wind in the cool moist re- 
cesses of the hole. The bunch is formed at the surface of the 
ground, so that the enterprising native has but to pull it over 

39 



THE EX'ERGLADES 

with boat or sijonge hook, sever it from the stalk with his ma- 
chete, and walk proudly home with a week's provender for 
himself and family on his head — a titting illustration of man's 
mastery over natm-e. 

Little wonder that the native of the tropics is a lover of 
leisure ; little wonder that he rests content in his palm-thatched 
hut amid his ])eloved l)ananas. 

A good papaw will bear a hundred or more melon-like fruits, 
a fruit to the axil of each leaf, ripe at the bottom and in all 
stages of development up to the bloom. The staminate a.nd pis- 
tillate flowers are usually on separate plants, and the fruit varies 
a great deal in quality. 

llie fruit contains a large cjuantity of black, peppery seeds 
wliicJT may be removed cii masse, as in the case of \he canta- 
lou]). A good papaw, cold and treated with sugar and lime- 
juice, is relished by many people on a par with a muskmelon. The 
seeds are usually scattered in the midst of rubbish during the 
rainy season. As soon as the plants begin to bloom, all but one 
or two staminate plants are destroyed. In the course of a few 
months one may begin to pick papaws ever}- da}- or so. 

Of course some people have to learn to like them, but one 
lad}- that I know, of good hal)its, will steal this fruit when btiy- 
ing and begging fail. She has for the ])apaw the same irresisti- 
ble longing that the negro has for the watermelon. 

Next in wonder to the prolific nature of this fruit is the 
marvelous fact that it contains a natural food-digester, a fer- 
ment now famous the world over as a medicine. Under various 
patent names it enters into the lists of many drug firms. By 
means of it men have alreadv accumulated fortimes — not the 
producer, but the manufactiu'er and peddler who invent ap- 
pealing names and have them patented. 

I have before me a sample bottle containing one hundred 
pills for twenty-five cents. It is marked "Physician's sample. 
Our own pre])aration of the digestive juice of Carica papaya 
with willow charcoal." It is also marked a sure cure for dys- 
pepsia or indigestion. T have often wondered where all this 
juice conies from. I have traveled in many parts of the tropics, 

40 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

but have never seen or heard of anybody collecting it, and the 
plant will not grow north of the frost line. 

How fortunate the dweller in the tropics! If his meat is 
tough he can wrap it in papaw leaves over night and it will be 
tender in the morning. If his meal has disagreed with him, 
he can step into his back yard and pick and eat a papaw for 
dessert. 

Both bananas and papaws, however, are picked when full, 
but still green. This must be done to save them from the rats 
and birds. The tropical planter has bananas to roast and ba- 
nanas to fry, sweet bananas and acid bananas, big bananas and 
little bananas, yellow bananas and red bananas — in fact, varie- 
ties galore. 

If his bananas are slow to ripen, he can hurry the process 
by putting the bunch in a barrel and filling the barrel with warm 
air and smoke. This is easily done by turning the barrel upside 
down, hanging the bunch to a nail in the bottom which is now 
the top, and building a small fire in the hole in the earth under it. 

In a native school in India I have been told the pupils are fed 
almost exclusively on bananas. Bananas must be had at all 
times in proper condition. So they have a trench in the earth 
arranged in such a way that they can fill it with bananas, warm 
air, and smoke at any time and thus hasten the process of 
ripening. 

- The banana has been in a way the emancipator of the trop- 
ics. In many instances it has led the native out of thraldom. 
In many places from which bananas are not shipped he must 
work in the fields at a small recompense. At banana ports he 
can usually receive a cash payment for every full bunch. With 
bananas to eat and bananas to sell, the copper-colored native 
can rest in his home-made hammock, thump his home-made 
guitar, and smoke his home-made cigar with only one worry, 
and that is that he might at any time be forced to serve in the 
army of either the dc facto or dc jure government, for the 
cause of liberty. Even so he knows that the folks at home can 
live on the bananas and papaws and other fruits and vegetables 
growing in a semi-wild state around his bungalow. 

41 



From the Everglade Magazine. 



CHAPTER \'II. 



WHAT WILL GROW IX THI-: E\'ERGLADES. 




O ALWA' plants will grow in the Everglades 
when drainage is complete that a book and not 
one or two articles would have to be written 
to cover the subject and do it justice. The 
growing of things is, of course, the purpose of 
all reclamation, and upon this alone depends 
the future value of the land. This Everglade 
land 1^'heii drained, ozviiig to its favorable 
location, will produce a greater ivriety of crops than any other 
land in the United States of America. We know of many things 
which have been successfitlly grown on the edge of the Ever- 
glades already, but think of the hundreds of useful plants now 
growing in other parts of the w^orld wdiich have yet to be intro- 
duced and tested ! 

Let me say at the start that this Everglade drainage question 
is no question at all ; it is a question only in the minds of doubt- 
ing Thomases, who are prejudiced, who are ignorant or who are 
born knockers and who belittle every project in which they have 
no hand and out of wdiich they can make no rake-off. We need 
not go to Euroi)e for examples of successfid works of a similar 
nature. The Dutch in fact would smile at such a project. They 
are making farm lands out of such places as Biscayne P>ay. They 
reclaim places below the level of the sea. They j)innp the water 
out. Look over the great irrigation jirojects of our W^est, or 
better still the banked lands of the Mississippi \'alley where huge 
and costly levees hold our mightiest river in check. The over- 
flow of Okeechobee is insignificant compared with the floodwaters 
of the great river which drains a third of this wdiole country. 
The first |)roduct for our consideration on Everglade soils 



42 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

should be forage. P>\v countries can be highly and wholly suc- 
cessful in an agricultural way without being able to raise suffi- 
cient food for farm animals of all kinds. Aside from the ex- 
pense of feeding these animals on hay and grain brought from 
a distance, they are necessary for the maintenance of soil fer- 
tility and the conversion of roughage into manure, which is an 
expensive and to some extent an imported article. Enough 
vegetables are wasted to feed many pigs. The fertilizer bill 
is the main item of expense. 

In the West alfalfa means corn, alfalfa and corn mean hogs 
and cattle and horses ; these in turn mean fertility, money, pros- 
perity and happiness. 

There seems to me to be only one great work in this world ; 
all other aims are subsidiary to it; it is the production of happy 
and prosperous homes. Every man who honestly works to that 
end is a benefactor to mankind. The men who reclaim waste 
land, the men who introduce valuable plants from foreign lands, 
the men who by selection improve varieties and increase pro- 
ductiveness, the men who devise means for combating plant 
diseases, in fact the men who in any way increase the produc- 
tivity of the soil in proportion to the labor expended thereon 
are doing a great work for all time. They may be long forgot- 
ten, but the effects of their labors will roll down the ages for 
all time to come. All other movements are insignificant com- 
pared with the one great movement of producing the largest 
amount of food and shelter for our people with the minimum 
amount of labor outlay. 

In the matter of forage for animal feed, velvet beans, cow- 
peas, beggarweed and grasses and other legumes are already 
common. The Indians have successfully grown corn for many 
years on islands in the Everglades, and the green corn dance 
has always been to them an important event. In places in the 
Everglades where vegetables have been recently grown there 
are oats waist high with good heavy heads, having sprung from 
seed in the manure used for fertilizer or from oats, accidentally 
scattered by the horses while eating their mess. There is no 
stronger hay than oats cured in the milk, and in the land where 

43 



THE EVERGLADES 

I was bred farmers all said that animals fed on fodder of this 
kind needed no grain. And why should oats not thrive? The 
winter climate of Florida is not unlike the summer climate of 
Northern regions where oats are abundantly produced. 

The soil has never been inoculated with the bacteroid of red 
clover, yet in places red clover may be seen in full flower, hav- 
ing sprung from the seed from baled hay. This same baled hay 
brings in many weeds from the North, and the Canada thistle 
and other noxious weeds may be already seen in the vegetable 
patches on the Glades. 




STATE CANAL IX THE EVERGLADES, FOR DRAINAGE, IRRIGATION AND 
TRANSPORT.ATION. 



Remove the water from the Glades, plant forage crops, keep 
animals, convert all roughage and waste products into manure 
and the agricultural future of this whole region will be assured 
for all time to come. Farming seldom succeeds without manure, 
work and sense. The maintenance of soil fcrtilitv and the con- 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

trol of plant diseases are the two main agricultural problems 
throughout the world. 

It does not make any difference where you live, says Glean- 
ings in Bee Culture, alfalfa can be made to grow all the way 
from Maine to Florida. Here are the directions boiled down 
from the Ohio Former, written by Willis O. ^^'ing, the great 
authority on the subject of alfalfa: 

"Please do not make a mystery of alfalfa-growing any 
longer. It is such a simple matter that one can write all the 
rules needed in small space. Here they are : Drain the water 
out; let the air into the soil; fill the land with lime if nature did 
not do it; get humus into it — stable manure or some vegetable 
matter to rot and promote the life of bacteria there. Put in 
plenty of phosphorus. Sow good seed, with a little inoculated 
soil. Lime brings afalfa. Alfalfa brings corn. Corn brings 
money, homes, pianos and education for farm boys." 

As to the production of vegetables nothing need be said, 
since it is hard to name a common garden variety which will not 
thrive on the glades. 

As to the production of rice, sugarcane and tobacco the pros- 
pects are not so bright for the small farmer. They will no 
doubt all grow well in the Everglades region. In the case of 
rice considerable capital is necessary in order to compete with 
Texas and Louisiana, where machinery has materially lessened 
the cost of production. There is a large rice eating population 
throughout the world, and although the price may be low the 
demand is unlimited. 

The development of sugar estates requires much capital, but 
the system of sugar production may change. Experiments 
along this line are now in progress in Cuba. The plan is to shred 
the cane, drying it and baling it with the sugar in it. In this 
form it is shipped to northern refineries. Thus handled they are 
able to get more sugar out of it and the bagasse which is left 
is fit for the manufacture of a coarse grade of paper. If this 
new system proves successful one farmer or at most half a 
dozen farmers could afford the necessary machinery and raise 

45 



THE EX^ERGLADES 

cane profitably even if there is not a big sugar factory in the 
vicinity. 

Tobacco will no doubt grow in the Everglades, but I have 
never seen it tried to any extent. It is quite possible that it 
might be successful and yield a leaf of superior quaUty or 
something out of the ordinary like the Perique of Louisiana. 

Cotton may also prove a valuable crop. The climate surely 
suits it and I have seen it growing elsewhere on soils of a sim- 
ilar nature. 

Bananas may be successfully grown. The Cavendish vari- 
ety seems best suited for the purpose. There need never be 
starvation in a region where bananas will grow. It is certainly 
one of the most wonderful food producers of the world. It has 
been grown successfully and of delicious flavor on the edge of 
the glades for years. It continually produces food from the 
same root and after the bunch is cut the chickens will completely 
consume the succulent stem and leaves. 

The Everglades will grow many of the vegetables and forage 
crops of the North in midwinter, and in addition a long list of 
tropical trees, fruits and vegetables which cannot be grown else- 
where in our coimtry, some of which are w-ell known, but many 
kinds have yet to be tested. In another article I will mention 
some of the most promising of these, since in addition to food 
many of these tropical plants yield medicines, gums, perfumes, 
dyes, tanning materials, cabinet woods, etc., of more or less 
value to mankind. 

All that part of F"lorida south of Ft. Lauderdale is tropical 
and has a tropical flora. It is the only part of the United States 
where the mango, avocado, sapodilla, anonas, etc., thrive and 
although many of these tropical fruits ripen in the summer time, 
they may be preserved no doubt into midwinter by cold storage. 

The territory toward Cape Sable (Lower Glades) is still 
a wild and unreclaimed region. Its development has just begun, 
although its possibilities may be unlimited. The whole country 
needs people and capital, coupled with active enterprise. The 
tide is moving Southward and it is human nature to follow the 
crowd. Some will not stay and some will not succeed. Home- 

46 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

sickness has killed more soldiers than bullets. Some i)eople can- 
not cut loose from old associations and are not fitted for the 
life of pioneers. Others love it and are stimulated and improved 
by it. Only a certain percentage can svicceed at agriculture, 
anyway, anywhere, since although it is the most important, it is 
at the same time the most intricate of all professions. One must 
also have foresight and business ability to fight against soulless 
transportation companies and tricky middlemen. If one cannot 
prosper in agriculture in Southern Florida, there is little hope 
elsewhere in this line. 

The newcomer cannot freeze to death, and unless hampered 
by illness and dire misfortune he cannot starve, because wild in 
the woods is comptie or coontie, a plant which yields a starch 
equal in quality to sago. This still serves people in remote dis- 
tricts and was at one time the mainstay of the settler. The 
waters teem with fish, and poultry thrives. 

Although in the beginning there may be isolation and dis- 
comfiture, the man who w^orks can make a living and a home 
such as cannot be made elsewhere in the United States in the 
same length of time and with the same amount of capital. 

One thing is certain, if one is in search of a tropical climate 
and a place to grow tropical crops, he will settle in Southern 
Florida or go out of the United States, and if he goes out of 
the United States he will have to face conditions and people with 
which he is not familiar, and to which he can never become 
wholly reconciled and there will always lurk in him a desire 
to return to his countrv and his kind. 



47 



From the EveryJadc Mayaciiu 



CHAPTER VIII. 



VALUABLE TREES FOR THE EVERGLADES. 




N THE following article I shall mention a 
few trees specially worthy of cultivation and 
certain to succeed on Everglade soil when 
drainage has sufficiently progressed to lower 
the water table three or four feet below the 
surface level. Some of these trees will stand 
submergence for a short time. Even grape- 
fruit or pomelo will stand submergence in 
two or three feet of water for a period of a couple of weeks 
without apparent injury. 

The following opinions are based entirely on my own expe- 
riences and observations. These are based on ten years of ex- 
perience in the tropics, especially in Southern Florida, and fif- 
teen years of experience as a forester. 

Bamboo [Baiiibos 7'ii!(jaris) is very a1)un(lant ali)iig mucky 
water courses in the West Indies, where it forms stately groves 
or thickets. Although there is not a fortune in growing bam- 
boo it is highly ornamental and the poles are very useful on the 
farm. It is sure to become a great favorite for Everglade plant- 
ing. The Government is now experimenting, and in a short 
time we may be able to select varieties especially fitted for fish 
poles, furniture, etc. Bamboo throws a dense shade and is fine 
as a shelter and forage for poultry. 

Of the palm family the royal palm ( Roysto)ica rcgia) and 
the coco palm (Cocos nncifera) are of first importance. The 
royal palm is native to Southern Florida. It loves a moist, 
mucky soil. It is a majestic tree for avenue or roadside plant- 
ing. Its berries for pigfeed are equal to corn. 

Although the coco palm is a lover of the seashore, it will 

48 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

grow on moist soil several miles inland. Just how far it is diffi- 
cult to say, but I have seen it growing in the West Indies ten 
miles from the coast. This tree and its many products are too 
well known to need description. It is sufficient to say that it 
is considered by many authorities to be, on the whole, the most 
useful member of the plant world. A home in the tropics, at 
least near the seashore, seems incomplete without it. Many 
nuts were planted years ago on our sandbeaches, and although 
many did sprout and grow, thousands were lost because the 
young, tender leaves of the germinating nut were devoured by 
rabbits. 

Australia pine or beef wood (Casuai'i)ia cqitisetifolia) is 
second to none as a quick hardwood producer in mucky soil or 
in saline land along the coast. In my opinion it is superior to 
any cucalypt that I knoiv of for the production of hardzvood 
lumber. 

Very few of the eucalypts produce first-class sawlogs in a 
short length of time. The eucalypt is not a sawlog proposition. 
I am upheld in this statement by Bulletin No. 61, Agricultural 
Experiment station, Tucson, Arizona : "It is not very likely that 
eucalyptus culture will ever prove a success as a saivlog propo- 
sition in any part of Arizona." I think I can safely say the same 
for this part of Florida. It is a pole, sleeper and fuel proposi- 
tion and a California proposition. There is no reason why we 
should ever concern ourselves about fuel anyway. There is no 
danger of freezing to death in this part of Florida. The limbage 
alone will be sufficient; there will always be a lot of waste lum- 
ber, and then the coal supply of the Eastern United States is 
by no means exhausted. Plant for fine timber or other valu- 
able products. The fuel question will take care of itself in the 
tropics. 

We have several native trees belonging to the same family 
as the eucalyptus, and they are apparently quite as good. The 
rose-apple or pomerosa belongs to this family and is a magical 
fuel wood producer on the edge of streams in Cuba. It looks 
just like a eucalypt and yields an abundance of edible fruits. 
This tree would succeed on Everglade muck. I am growing 

49 



THE EXERGLADES 

another tree similar to the eucalyptus on muck soil. It is the 
cajeput of India. It is a beautiful tree, of very quick growth and 
yields the cajeput oil of commerce. This oil is used in India 
for rheumatism and I believe is the basis of some massage 
creams and hair oils. 

My choice of all the softwood trees, which produce fine 
timber, are easily propagated from cuttings, free from disease, 
and grow with great rapidity, is three or four species of the 
genus Cedrela — the commonest of which is Cedrela odorata or 
Cuban cigar-box wood. The wood of this tree is worth more 
than mahogany ; in fact, much of the so-called mahogany in the 
market belongs to this genus and is not true mahogany. 

In the spring of the year stick a cutting, twelve inches long, 
of Cedrela odorata, Cuban cedar, Cedrela tooiia, the red cedar of 
Australia, or Cedrela Brasilieiisis, the acajou of Brazil, in moist 
muck land and in six weeks it will have shoots on it six feet high. 
I have specimens growing at the rate of more than one foot a 
month. The trees resemble walnut trees and lead as softwood 
timber producers for tropical regions. 

Were I engaged toniorrozv to plant a tract of land in trees 
for lumber on the Everglades I zvould plant Australian pine for 
hardwood and Cuban cedar for softwood. 

For quick growing, valuable shade trees I would like to 
recommend the Spanish laurel (Ficus nitida ) and the Sacred 
Bo tree of India {Picas religiosa). The wood of these trees 
is no good but they afiford a fine shade, are very decorative and 
grow very quickly. 

I think all the trees mentioned above will hold up in bad 
winds. On mucky soil one must select trees that do not blow 
over easily. That is a fault of the eucalyptus in this region. 
It probably would not happen if the tree could get deep rootage. 

Another good shade tree for mucky soil is Thespesia popul- 
nea, called in Cuba the Florida mahoe (uiajagua de Florida), 
although not a native of Florida. It bears a beautiful flower 
and is easily reproduced from cuttings. A brother to this tree, 
called "maga" in Porto Rico, is one of the most beautiful trees 

50 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

I have ever seen. I have not been able to get seeds or cuttings 
for Florida, but I hope to some day. 

Speaking of fuel wood above, I think we have the best fuel 
wood producer in the world. It is the Florida buttonwood 
{Coiiocarpiis crecta). This tree grows on the seashore. The 
wood gives out a great deal of heat and produces very little 
smoke. It ivill nozv bring tzvicc the price of any other fuel wood 
in Key IV est or Nassau. 

The sapodil.la is a great favorite of mine. It grows espe- 
cially in the hammock, but will, I think, grow well anywhere 
in the glades when drainage is complete. It is stormfast and 
tough, it produces a wood that is everlasting, a fruit that is good 
and salable locally, and a gum called chicle, which is in great de- 
mand in the manufacture of chewing gum. In fact, we are on 
the verge of a chewing gum famine, owing to the scarcity of 
this gum. 

The mastic is a fine native hardwood. 

Princewood is also a good wood. Its bark is a splendid 
tonic, containing quinine or a similar drug. It is worth while to 
plant a tree or two of this just to have a fine, unadulterated 
tonic near at hand. 

In addition we have mahogany and Jamaica dogwood, well 
known native woods of excellent quality and in demand locally. 
Mahogany is ordinarily regarded as the "king of all hard- 
woods." I have sent samples of our mahogany, here called ma- 
deira, to England and France and experts there pronounced 
it of first quality for the manufacture of solid furniture. This 
grows wild on islands just south of the Everglades. 

We have other woods of great value too numerous to men- 
tion in one article. In addition to the plants I have already 
mentioned, there are, of course, many tropical fruit trees and 
manv ornamental shrubs and vines. 



51 



From the Everglade Magazine. 




CHAPTER IX. 
SOME COAIiMON FLORIDA PLANTS. 

ILW'E often been asked to recommend 
plants which will make good hedges for South 
#v ^l^l^^l Florida. For this purpose I know nothing 
*'*"^"*"''" better than Carissa or Natal Plum. There 
are supposed to be two species of Carissa in 
Florida — grandiflora and arduina, but I can 
see no difference. This bush is always a rich 
dark green. It has vicious thorns ; it bears a sweet scented 
white flower and red plum-like fruit. It is easily repro- 
duced by layering and may be grown from seed. It is 
best always to propagate from a heavy bearing plant, since 
it seems that all strains are not the same in this respect. When 
cooked the fruit makes a sauce hardly distinguishable from 
cranberry. The sauce is improved by the addition of a few 
chopped raisins. This plant bears throughout the year, and the 
sauce is welcome at almost every meal. I believe this fruit 
can be successfully dried or evaporated, as are dates, figs, 
raisins, prunes, etc. The home of this bush is South Africa, 
where it is effectively used for hedges. It seems to be perfectly 
adapted to Florida conditions. 

Another good hedge plant is the lime. This yields the well- 
known "sour" of commerce which will in time no doubt replace 
the lemon. For good limes there is a growing demand and after 
one has become accustomed to using them he ever after spurns 
the lemon. No home in the tropics is complete without a few 
lime trees. 

The same may be said of the guava, sometimes referred to 
as the "apple of Florida." The guava grows wath little care, 

52 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

fruits heavily and is perhaps the greatest of all jelly fruits. The 
ripe fruit has a smell which is at first detested by the newcomer, 
quite in contrast to the aromatic lime, but one usually learns 
to relish it, after a time, out of hand. Guava jelly brings many 
dollars to Florida and I know several small jelly factory owners 
who ship their products to every State in the Union and to 
England as well. 

The Surinam cherry is a handsome bush. It yields an 
abundance of rich red cherries which are rehshed on a par with 
northern cherries by many people. It is of course in no way 
related to the true cherry of the North, and it has a slight resin- 
ous flavor, but it is a good substitute. 

Around every home there should be many pigeon pea bushes. 
This is the cajan bush of India and Africa, now common 
throughout the tropics of the world. The peas are worth fif- 
teen cents a quart. They make the famous pigeon pea or Congo 
pea soup. The negroes cook them green. They shade the 
ground, improve the soil, keep down weeds and deposit a rich 
leaf-mold over the surface of the ground. I plant them in my 
grove. Chickens, quail and doves are fond of the peas and 
they flourish in the shade, scratching for bugs and the peas which 
fall. 

The Castor bean grows well in Florida and ought to be an 
extensive industry. There is good demand for the oil, and the 
pumice from the seeds is a fine fertilizer. 

All of the above have been introduced into this State but 
are now perfectly at home here. Among our native plants we 
have many yet to try and to improve under careful cultivation. 

Some time ago my attention was attracted to a little pea- 
like plant growing by the roadside. It reminded me of the 
white clover of the North and like the famous camomile grows 
the faster the more it is trod upon. I am testing it and think 
it will make a fine lawn plant. In looking up its name I find it 
belongs to the Indigo genus, Indigofera mineata, and this re- 
minds me of the fact that indigo was once extensively grown 
in Florida before the days of aniline dyes and synthetic chemists. 

In patches out in the Everglades there are many pond-ap- 



THE EN'ERGLADES 

pies. The pond-apple is the Florida representative of the great 
Anona family which includes many delicious fruits. Some peo- 
ple eat the pond-apple and I think I have seen it on sale in Mex- 
ican markets. The wood of the pond-ap[)le is almost as light as 
cork, and may be used in place of cork for net floats, etc. 

The pond-apple may prove a good stock on which to bud 
the famous Cherimolia, Rollinia, Uvaria and other choice, but 
little known, fruits of this order. 

Nothing is commoner on islands in the Everglades than the 
Coco-plum. This is a beautiful small tree yielding a fruit which 
makes a fine preserve. There is great variation in the quality 
of the fruit. In many cases it is mostly one big seed but I have 
seen some that were large and meaty and well worthy of cul- 
tivation and improvement. It is not very distantly related to the 
peach, apricot, etc., being of the same family, and might be use- 
ful as a hardy stock for budding something of greater merit. 

\\'e have a wild West Indian cherry fruiting in our ham- 
mocks which might be useful also as a stock for budding 
purposes. 

I have used above the word "hammock," the term applied in 
South Florida to a dense hardwood jungle. This is not the same 
word as "hummock," or the same as "hammock," a swinging 
bed, but is probably a word of local Indian origin, spelled in 
early times "hamak." 

I will conclude this cliaptcr with a few words in reference 
to the humble coontie or comi)tie, a little plant which grows 
wild everywhere in the pine woods, avoiding the wet places. 
The root of this plant kept the early settlers supplied with starch 
for bread, as well as the Indians before them. It was the main 
industry of this country in the early days. The starch from the 
root is still in demand. It is a sago. From it easily digested 
and nutritious biscuits can be made. In the wild state the plant 
contains prussic acid and is poisonous and for that reason is 
never molested except by man and the comptie fly, a beautiful 
insect which is immune to its deadly juice. Fire does not in- 
jure it, in fact helps to scatter the seeds, since the heat opens the 
cone-like head which holds them. 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

Cassava also grows like a weed in Florida. From its root 
a starch is made. If further treated this starch becomes the 
tapioca of commerce. 

With its sunshine and its moisture, with its host of useful 
native and introduced plants, with its black mucky soils and 
light sandy soils, with its vast beds of phosphate holding great 
stores of the most precious of all plant foods, phosphorus, with 
its long coast line and canals and harbors to come, it seems to 
me that all this great State lacks is people with capital and 
energy to furnish fun and feed for millions. 



55 




From the Everglade Magazine. 



CHAPTER X. 

MXES FOR EVERGLADE PLAXTIXG. 

n X THE development of a home in a tropical 
|j country there is no group of plants which 
give as much gratification as do the vines. 
They grow quickly, they afford shade in a 
short time, they occupy but small space, in 
fact space which would otherwise not be util- 
ized, and in addition man)' vines yield prod- 
ucts which are quite equal in value to other 
crops of forest and field. 

They are in a peculiar way attractive, and to many people 
far more attractive than bushes and trees. 

They gracefully cover unsightly places and clamber into 
nooks and corners, covering with a rich green fences and out- 
buildings and at times are a delight beyond expression when 
in the acme of their bloom. A poultry wire fence covered with 
vine is usually a more effective screen than a solid board fence 
and although the effect of complete seclusion is secured the air 
can filter through. 

In the old world, where space is scarce, even fruit trees, 
such as figs, peaches, apples, lemons, etc., are grown on trel- 
lises. In this case the fruit is larger, brighter in color and of 
better flavor because of the abundance of light and free circula- 
tion of air which this form of culture provides. I have just 
received a postcard from a friend summering on the Austrian 
side of the Lake of Garda, showing lemons growing on trel- 
lises. The writer says : "I am sending this to you because I 
doubt if anywhere except here on the Lake of Garda lemons are 
trained against walls between pillars in this way. There is a 
lattice overhead and I suppose they can cover them in winter 
if necessary." 

56 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

Suppose one owns only a small lot and builds in such a way 
that he has a central court or patio and suppose over this patio 
he builds a lattice and on this lattice he trains grapefruit or lime 
or orange, he would have an attraction that would afford him- 
self and his family comfort, but above all it would be a sight 
which would hold a Northern visitor spellbound. 

I know a man who owns a little one-story wooden house, 
covered with paper for a roof. This was hot in summer and 
he could not aff'ord tiles or shingles. He built over it one foot 
or more from the roof a light lattice frame. He planted a quick- 
growing vine and now his house is actually roofed with a mantle 
of green. It acts like the double roofs so common in the South- 
west. Between his house and the sun there is not only this roof 
of green but a current of air. It furnishes a nesting place for 
the birds and cuts out the bare, cheap look of a paper roof. 

It would be impossible in so short a space to treat of all the 
vines which grow in South Florida, because they are legion, but 
some, in addition to being Ijeautiful in leafage and flower, bear 
fruits of more or less value. 

Probably few visitors to Florida realize that the vanilla vine 
is native, that it grows wild in our hammocks. It is slightly 
different from the vanilla of Mexico and South America and is 
almost leafless. It hangs pendant from branches like long 
slender green snakes. It was for a long time considered by 
botanists of the same species as the Mexican. In Small's Botany 
of the Southeastern United States it is called J'aiiilla planifolia. 
"In forests, peninsular Florida and tropical America, also wide- 
ly cultivated." It is an orchid and might some day be profit- 
ably grown for the aromatic pods it yields. 

The yam is a quick growing vine. Yams form one of the 
staple foods of many tropical peoples, especially in the East. 
The yam vine forms a root similar to a sweet potato but many 
times as large. I have seen a party of ten at dinner served with 
one-half a yam. There are many kinds of yams. They grow 
like mad in rich mucky soil and in addition to the shade afforded 
yield a food almost equal to a white potato. 

S7 



THE EVERGLADES 

That strange fruit called the ceriman is really a vine. In its 
native state it grows high into the trees. It has big leaves with 
natural holes in them and produces a flower something like a 
big calla lily and a fruit the shape of an ear of corn. Its scien- 
tific name is Moiistcra dcliciosa. 

The passion vine is too well known to need description. It 
yields a fruit called the granidilla in tropical America. 

The black pepper of commerce is a vine. Also rattan is a 
climbing palm and who knows but that both of these may grow 
in South Florida? 

Some time ago over in the Bahamas I saw a man planting 
vines in the hammock for rubber. Several vines yield rubber 
of commercial importance. We have one native rubber vine, 
Rhabdadcnia biflora (same as Echitcs paludosa), and the one 
which has been planted in the West Indies for rubber is Cr\p- 
fostcgio (jrandiflora. 

Pcrcskia aciilcata, the lemi^n vine — the Barbadoes" goose- 
berry — has already grown to be a favorite in South Florida. 
It belongs to the cactus family and produces an edible fruit. 

Think of the gourds which yield such useful utensils. The 
chayote, a vegetable vine from Mexico, has fruited in Florida, 
but has never become popular. 

Then there is the grape, some variety of which will no doubt 
do well here. One good scuppernong will cover an arbor a 
quarter of an acre in extent in the course of time. The Key 
grape is already common and wild grapes are abundant. 

There are many morning glory vines in Florida. They are 
usually treated as weeds. One of our morning glory vines 
yields jalap, a famous medicine. Many are highly ornamental 
and furnish in addition honey for bees when other bee food is 
scarce. 

The velvet bean and other vines of the family grow very 
rapidly and yield an abundance of beans and fodder. 

We have one little vine — very delicate — holding tight to 
stone walls, soon covering the stone completely with a growth 
of dark green. It is Ficus repcns. I heard a man once say that 
he wanted a stone house just to be able to have this vine 

58 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

on it. Strange to say it is a Ficus, the same genus to which the 
fig, the common rubber trees and the great banyans of India 
belong. 

And then there is a host of highly ornamental vines that 
one must learn to know before appreciation is possible — such 
as the night-blooming cereus, bignonias, christmas vine, jas- 
mines, solanums, chalice flower, clematis, woodbine, Virginia 
creeper, roses, allamanda, antigonon, bougainvillea, tacomas, etc., 
etc., all of which enliven the landscape and render the barest 
weather-beaten, tumble-down shack a thing of beauty and a joy 
forever. 




IN THE MIDST OF THE HAMMOCK ON KEY LARGO. IT IS IN THIS REGION 
THAT THE LARGEST MAHOGANY OF THE KEYS IS LOCATED. KEY LARGO IS 
THE LARGEST AND HIGHEST OF THE KEYS. THE PHOTO SHOWS THE LINE OF 
THE NEW RAILROAD TO KEY WEST. ( PHOTO BY FLORIDA PHOTOGRAPHIC 
CONCERN, FORT PIERCE, FLA.) 



59 



From Woodcraft, August, igof^. 



chapter xi. 
Mahogany ix south Florida axd the west 

INDIES. 




EI'^()RE describing mahogany wood let me 
quote some statistics as to the quantity im- 
ported into this country and the value of the 
im])ort. I don't know how relial)le these sta- 
tistics are. They are furnished by the Gov- 
ernment and are probably approximately 
correct. 

In 1908 41,678.000 feet of mahogany were 
imported into this country. Its value is given as $2,566,954, an 
average of $61.56 a thousand feet. This represents the price 
actually paid for it laid down in our ports, two-thirds to Atlantic 
and one-third to Gulf ports. Central America, Mexico and the 
West Indies furnished 65.5 per cent, South America 2.2 per 
cent, Africa 13.8 per cent, Asia 0.40 per cent, and 18.1 per cent 
came through Europe, mostly from England. 

Mexico, Nicaragua, British and Spanish Honduras, Cuba 
and Santo Domingo furnish the bulk of the mahogany used in 
this country, and some which reaches us through Europe may 
have come originallv from one of these places. 

The value of mahogany from tropical America was $51.75, 
of that from Africa $51.13, of that from South America $52.79, 
all about the same, while that which came through Europe was 
worth twice as much. $105.78 per thousand, and that from Asia 
$88.63 per thousand. The great difiference in the price is proba- 
bly due to the fact that the wood was of special, selected 
quality. 

Mahogany and other cabinet woods are often shipped to 
England and then reshijiped. Only a hundred miles across the 



60 



AXD SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

Straits of Florida is tlie island of Andros in the Bahamas, a 
British possession. The same kind of mahogany is produced 
there that grows on our Florida Keys and near Cape Sable. 
This Andros mahogany has been shipped to England from time 
to time and I have no doubt that some of it crosses the ocean 
again to New York. 

It easily may be seen from the above figures that up to the 
time the retailer gets hold of it, mahogany is not an expensive 
wood. It makes a great difference in this world whether one is 
buying or selling, and the difference between the price the con- 
sumer pays and the price the producer gets is very wide, espe- 
cially on products of the soil. In many cases I have no doubt 
that there is fully $50 worth of hard human labor in almost 
every thousand feet of mahogany landed in American ports. 
There is small profit in it at this price. 

Mahogany is usually scattered in a tropical forest and is 
often transported with the greatest difficulty over rough roads 
or no roads with the crudest kind of vehicles and other appa- 
ratus to the nearest shipping point. Some small logs are often 
carried by pack mules over slippery and precipitous trails, while 
the transportation of a log for a mile or more on the heads of 
three or four negroes is not uncommon. 

One reads statements of the fabulous prices paid for ma- 
hogany. No doubt at times special logs will bring a high fig- 
ure, but for years I have endeavored to trace every such state- 
ment to its source and I have found them all unreliable, exag- 
gerated, or out and out figments of the imagination. Four or 
five months ago a popular American magazine published the 
statement, under the heading of "Notes," that two mahogany 
logs had sold in Liverpool for $1,500. I wrote to the magazine 
and it claimed it took the note from a newspaper. I wrote to 
the newspaper and it said it found the statement in a book on 
timber published in 1870. 

Logs sometimes bring high prices, but I think it is safe to 
assume that it happens rarely. A large part of the tree is usually 
left in the woods anyway and if the wood had such value it 
would pay to make a special trip to the spot just to get the stump. 

61 



THE EVERGLADES 

It will be seen from the statistics quoted above that 34.5 per 
cent of our mahogany comes from South America, Africa, Asia 
and through Europe. Just what trees yield this wood I am, of 
course, unable to say. I am also, I think, quite safe in saying 
that nobody knows. There is a whole lot of wood which sells 
for mahogany, which looks like mahogany, and which brings 
just as much money as mahogany and may be just as good, but 
it is not all mahogany from a botanical standpoint. Nobody can 
tell the species of tree that yields a tropical timber by merely 
looking at the log. Without leaf, flower or fruit, or even bark, 
the naming of the tree which yielded the timber is simply the 
purest kind of guesswork. 

English tramp ships are running to all parts of the world. 
They pick up here and there small lots of anything marketable. 
A mahogany log, using the term "mahogany" in a commercial 
and not a botanical sense, on the wharf of an English port may 
come from one of many places and may be the product of a tree 
which looks no more like the mahogany tree than a peach re- 
sembles an apple. Mahogany in a commercial sense applies to 
any wood that will sell under that head ; in a botanical sense it 
applies only to Szvictenia mahagoni. I have heard of expert 
mahogany dealers in England, and I presume we have the same 
in the United States, who can, as it were, look right through 
a mahogany log, tell to a surety the kind of grain it will yield 
and the country which grew it. There is not the man living who 
from the appearance of the log or the finished wood can tell 
whether it came from Honduras, Alexico, the Bahamas, Cuba, 
Santo Domingo. Asia or Africa. It is very much the same with 
cofifees. Java, Mocha and Rio are very often picked from the 
same tree. Some time ago I sent a sample of Florida mahogany 
in the form of a block two inches square to a mahogany dealer. 
He wrote back that the sample "evidently came from a tree five 
inches in diameter. Please send sample from a tree two feet 
in diameter." I don't believe the man is living who can tell 
from a block of wood two inches square without sapwood or 
bark whether it came from a tree five inches or five feet in diam- 
eter or whether it came from the top of a large tree or from a 

62 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

limb. The sample above referred to came from the heart of a 
large branch which had been reserved for boat timber. Close 
to a tropical seashore the limbs are usually much bent by the 
prevailing winds, but the wood is of very good quality and espe- 
cially fine for boat construction. 

The wood of the mahogany tree, in fact of every tree that 
I know of, varies very much, depending upon the conditions 
under which the tree grew. It must be borne in mind that the 
mahogany tree, although it cannot stand frost, will grow under 
other very adverse conditions. It will grow on hot coral rock 
on the Keys of Florida. Sometimes it is so close to the sea that 
its foliage is sprinkled with ocean spray. It will grow in parts 
of the West Indies where there is hardly a drop of rain for 
over six months at a time, and it will grow on steep mountain 
sides high up in crevices of the rock. In such places where 
the growth is slow, the wood is heavy and rich in color and 
grain. In warm, tropical valleys where there is an abundant 
and constant supply of moisture and where the tree is actually 
intoxicated with the very richness of the soil, its growth is rapid 
and the wood is light and of less value. In Florida it usually 
grows in hardwood thickets called "hammocks." 

Some say that much of the mahogany on the market is really 
Cedrcla or Spanish cedar. This may be so, since Spanish cedar 
from a tree which grows very slowly is hardly distinguishable 
from the wood of a mahogany tree which has grown quickly. 
Spanish cedar and mahogany trees are closely related, although 
they do not look alike. The mahogany looks something like a 
live oak, while the Ccdrela or Spanish cedar looks like a pecan. 
From my own observations in the American tropics (Mexico, 
Honduras, Cuba and the Bahamas — there is no mahogany in 
Porto Rico) mahogany logs are cut for shipment at Atlantic 
and Culf ports from the mahogany tree Swietcnia mahagoni. 

Color is perhaps the first quality in wood which attracts at- 
tention. We have in the tropics white, red. yellow and black 
woods — the same as in races. Many tropical woods are dark 
in color, in fact I think dark colors predominate, especially reds 
and browns. Mahogany is usually a rich reddish brown not 

63 



THE E\ERGLADES 

unlike the color of the skin of a good healthy red Indian. Ac- 
cording to an official color scale. 25 parts red, 64 black and 11 
orange produce the shade called "acajou;" 85 of black to 15 of 
orange '•mahogany," and 83 of black, 4 of red and 13 of orange 
form "mahogany brown." 

There are floors in i)arts of the tropics made of plank cut 
from the log by hand and from such woods that the colors 
alternate red, white and black. I believe that a good, rich, red- 
dish brown is a normal color at least for the tropics. In the 
races pure white is just as abnormal as jet black. At any rate 
a reddish brown color is a good characteristic. There are more 
bay horses than any other color, and in Spanish America they 
say, "A tired red horse is a dead horse," meaning, of course, that 
a red horse is so tough that he never gets tired. In my own 
experience red poultry and red pigs do better in the tropics than 
those of other colors. The tips of very tender foliage are usual- 
ly red. This is especially so in the tropics, but is not uncom- 
mon in the Xorth, as with roses, Virginia creeper, etc. There is 
a red liquid in the outer cells of the plant which probably serves 
the purpose of screening out the actinic rays of the sun. 

Unless one has strong race prejudice, and one usually gets 
over that if he lives in the tropics long, a rich, healthy, brown- 
ish red complexion is the handsomest of all. Of course mahog- 
any wood varies in color, but reddish brown is the standard. It 
must not be dull but full of luster. In some cases when finished 
it has a satiny look which adds much to its beauty. Its color 
should be a rich red. darkening with age. In some woods this 
luster reaches a stage called "fire." Cape walnut, called also 
cannibal stinkwood. for instance, according to Stone, "exhibits 
much 'fire' -or phosphorescent luster." Mahogany is cold to the 
touch. Birdseye mahogany is not uncommon and is produced by 
scars due to sap-suckers. In the Bahama Islands the mahogany 
is often badly ringed by sap-sucker holes. 

We look upon mahogany as a cabinet wood. In the coun- 
tries where it grows it is used for every purpose that a wood 
can be put to. not excepting fuel. It makes excellent shingles 

64 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

and was once used for this purpose in Jamaica. I believe that 
defective trees, Hmbage, etc., might still be profitably used for 
this purpose. A house shingled with mahogany would be hand- 
some without paint or stain. It would surely last as long as any 
wood and might not cost much more than first-class cypress. 
Shingle billets could be easily carried from the forest on the 
heads of negroes. Although often used for floors it becomes 
very slippery. 

It is a combination of useful qualities with beauty which has 
made mahogany famous. Its popularity is founded upon true 
worth. It is heavy, very hard, close-grained, very durable and 
takes a fine polish. It seldom warps, cracks or shrinks under 
trying conditions if properly seasoned. Many tropical woods 
crack badly when taken north, but mahogany stands all climates 
and lasts well under water if kept constantly wet. It is seldom 
attacked by wood-eating insects, but is invaded by wood-boring 
crustaceans if left too long on the seashore. It is mostly all 
heartwood. It usually has only a thin yellow zone of sapwood. 
Its only fault is the fact that it is hard to work. The annual 
rings which ordinarily make the grain of wood are often very 
indistinct in mahogany. In many cases they are not "annual" 
at all. Several rings or additions of wood may occur in a year. 
Many times what appear at first sight to be rings in tropical 
woods are merely bands of color. 

Mahogany must dry a little in order to float w'ell. Some- 
times the trees are girdled on the stump, some time before cut- 
ting, and sometimes they are left to dry in the shade of the 
forest. In case one wants a fine grade of wood for boat build- 
ing, "mud seasoning" is good. Thus buried in mud a slow 
osmotic seasoning takes place which produces a wood of very 
superior grade. The wood has no special taste or smell. It 
colors water red. 

It was the first tropical cabinet wood used in Europe and for 
two centuries has had unabated popularity. It has figured more 
or less in literature but never more conspicuously than in the 
following short and charming ballad by Thackeray : 

65 



THE EVERGLADES 

"Christmas is here ; 

Winds whistle shrill. 

Icy and chill, 
Little we care : 
Little we fear 

Weather without, 

Sheltered about 
The mahogany tree. 

Once on the boughs 

Birds of rare plume 

Sang in its bloom ; 
Night birds are we : 
Here we carouse. 

Singing like them. 

Perched round the stem 
Of the jolly old tree." 

The mahogany tree is strictly tropical. It can endure only 
a small amount of frost. Tropical Florida, south of Lake Okee- 
chobee, is its Northern limit. It grows in the Bermudas, which 
are farther North, but owing to the position of these islands in 
the ocean, separated from the mainland Ijy the warm water of 
the Gulf Stream, their climate is tropical. 

It is of course a waste of time and money to try to grow 
mahogany in Northern regions. I mention this because I have 
received requests for seeds or young plants from Northern peo- 
ple. Although frost-tender, it is otherwise a hardy tree. It 
grows in all kinds of soils high in the mountains and so close to 
the seashore that it is sometimes killed by floods of salt water 
during severe storms. During a hurricane in Florida in the 
fall of 1906, mahogany trees a foot in diameter on the Keys 
were killed by the salt water which i^oured over all the lower 
portions of these islands. 

In speaking of its hardiness, Rea, a surveyor of the British 
War Department, says: "The tree is of comparatively rapid 
growth, reaching maturity in about 200 years, the trunk exceed- 

66 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

ing 40 to 50 feet in length and 6 to 12 feet in diameter. It is 
very handsome, with enormous branches of soHd timber; and 
rather strangely, when it springs from low levels and rich soil 
the wood is most inferior, being poor in color, soft and spongy, 
and consequently almost valueless. 

"That, however, which has been grown without nourishment 
on high levels, save what it derives from the atmosphere, is hard, 
figured, densely close in texture, as well as rich and deep in 
color, all qualifications which enhance its worth. It is also a 
curious fact that the tree does not seem to have any partiality, as 
it will flourish in low, marshy ground, or in a deep alluvial soil, 
or even on rocks to all appearance barren of earth ; in fact 
wherever the seeds chance to drop. Its development is more 
rapid in the shade than in the open." 

The above corresponds with my own observations, although 
I have never seen mahogany trees 12 feet in diameter. There 
are trees now standing on Key Largo, Florida, from 4 to 5 
feet in diameter and I have seen trees in Cuba 9 feet in diameter. 
Many of these tropical trees are heavily buttressed and only 
carry such size a short distance up the stem. Such trees are 
often cut ten feet from the ground. Mr. Rea lived for four 
years in St. Lucia and his observations are probably correct. 

Mahogany seldom grows alone in pure stand except perhaps 
in small clumps here and there scattered among a great variety 
of other trees. It seems quite able to hold its own and aban- 
doned clearings usually show many young mahogany trees. The 
fact that it endures some shade permits it to grow where many 
other trees would never start. 

In the forest it grows, of course, taller than in the open, but 
it nevertheless likes to spread as does the beech. Some mahog- 
any trees which have been left for shade in pastures in the West 
Indies, especially in Jamaica, are truly magnificent in their 
spread, having a stately and sturdy look defying even the fierce- 
ness of tropical gales. Strange to say there is no mahogany in 
Porto Rico. I have heard of one or two trees on the island, 
but in the unsettled Luquillo Forest, now a federal reservation, 
I could not find a single tree. It grows in the island of Culebra. 



THE p:\"erglades 

only a short distance to the eastward, and in abundance in Santo 
Domingo, only a short distance to the westward. 

It is hard to believe that it could have been completely ex- 
terminated on the island. I believe such must have been the 
case, liowever, since ])lace names often give one a clue to the 
character of the primeval woods. For instance, there is a place 
called "Mangier Caoba Laguna Soroco y Grande." Mangier 
refers to mangrove, caoba to mahogany, and I presume mahog- 
any once grew on the edge of the mangrove swamp or on islands 
in the swamp just as it does on the south coast of Cuba, Florida 
Keys and in the Bahamas. Although Cuba and Santo Domingo 
have been settled for about the same length of time, they have 
never had the population of Porto Rico. The scarcity of Span- 
ish cedar on the island tends to strengthen the belief that both 
of these trees have been practically exterminated. 

The mahogany is a prolific seed bearer and will grow in 
almost all locations with sufficient warmth and moisture. It is 
these qualities which enable it to hold its own in the majority of 
places where it grows. Browne in his "Trees of America," pub- 
lished in 1857, describes the tree fairly well as follow's : ''The 
Szvictcnia mahagoni is one of the most beautiful among inter- 
tropical trees. Its trunk is often 40 feet in height and 6 feet in 
diameter, and it divides into so many massy arms, and throws 
the shade of its glossy foliage over so great an extent of sur- 
face that few more magnificent objects are to be met with in 
the vegetable world. Its summit is wide and spreading, sub- 
evergreen, and adorned with abruptly pinnate, shining leaves. 
The flowers, which are produced in handsome spikes not unlike 
those of the lilac, are whitish, sometimes reddish or safTron color 
and are succeeded by fruit or capsules of an oval form about the 
size of a turkey's egg. The fruit ripens in early summer, bursts 
into five parts, and discloses its winged seeds, which are soon 
after dispersed by the winds ; some falling into the crevices of 
rocks, strike root, then creeping out on the surface, seek other 
chinks or crevices, re-enter, and swell to such a size and strength 
that at length the rocks are forced asunder, to admit the deeper 
penetration of the roots and in this manner, in process of time. 

68 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

increase to large trees." The flower is not conspicuous but the 
large brown hard capsule incites curiosity. It splits in five seg- 
ments from the under side and the seeds, which are winged like 
maple seeds, flutter to the ground. On the Florida Keys these 
ripen in midwinter. 

How the tree can get a foothold on some of these coral islands 
is wonderful. The rock is hard and hot at times and the soil 
is so scant in some places that I believe it would be difficult to 
scrape together a wagon load on an acre. Mahogany may be 
easily grown from seed and the young plants may be easily 
transplanted. Last winter was a great seed year (1908-09). 
Trees ten feet in height were full of seed. In places on the 
Florida Keys one could collect seeds enough in a few hours to 
plant hundreds of acres. It is a common saying that trees fruit 
heavily a year or so after a severe hurricane. 

The State of Florida is now engaged in draining the Ever- 
glades. If this project is successful, and I can see no reason 
why it should not be, a large amount of land will be reclaimed 
and although much of this land w'ill be too valuable for tree 
planting, there will, no doubt, be many acres better fitted for for- 
est trees than for field crops. This land would probably pro- 
duce mahogany to perfection. Some trees should be planted for 
shade at any rate. The mahogany trees frequently grow on 
islands in the mangrove swamps. 

Florida mahogany has been shipped to New York. The trade 
did not like it, in fact they found all kinds of fault with it. The 
logs were too small, which was due to the fact that the big logs 
were too heavy to handle. They claim it had black specks in it. 
but Honduras mahogany often has gray specks in it. In truth 
Florida Key mahogany is just like the Andros Island product. 
If we were to ship it to Liverpool and then reship it to New 
York it would sell no doubt to better advantage. Andros Island 
is only about fifty miles away and very similar in almost every 
respect to the Florida Keys. 

In speaking of Andros mahogany Rea says : "It grows to a 
large size but is generally cut to small dimensions owing. to the 
want of proper roads and other means of conveyance. It is 

69 



THE FA'ERGLADES 

principally used for bedsteads, etc., and the crooked trees and 
branches for ship timber. It is a fine, hard, close-grained, mod- 
erately heavy wood, of a fine rich color, equal to that of Span- 
ish mahogany, although probably too hard to be well adapted 
for the purposes to which the latter is usually applied." The 
above description applies exactly to the Florida variety. 

It is commonly thought that hard, heavy woods grow slowly. 
This is not always the case. The northern black locust is a 
hard, heavy wood, but it grows very quickly. The same is so 
of some species of eucalyptus. On the other hand some soft 
light cedars grow very slowly. Mahogany is usually considered 
a slow grower. 

If one counts the rings of a tropical tree and allows a ring 
to a year, as is common in the North, he is very apt to get fooled. 
He should first of all make sure that they are rings and not 
merely bands of color and then make sure that the tree in that 
special locality makes only one ring a year. Whenever a tree 
drops its leaves growth stops and a ring is formed. When a 
tree is rooted in a rich moist soil in a warm climate, it has no 
struggle except against its neighbors. It seems to do very much 
as it pleases. 

In a paper read before the British Association for the Ad- 
vancement of Science on "Foliar Periodicity in Ceylon" by 
Herbert Wright there is the following statement: "In studying 
the behavior of our deciduous trees, the most usual conclusion 
is that no law and order prevails and any tree drops its leaves 
how and when it chooses. There are, however, certain features 
which point to a climatic response, and others which indicate 
that the personal or internal forces are the chief agencies at 
work." 

It seems strange to speak of the "personal" forces of trees, 
nevertheless the study of trees in the tropics, which is biological 
headquarters, leads one to the conclusion that they have, to say 
the least, many idiosyncrasies. Some trees will drop their leaves 
before and after the rainy season, some during the wet weather, 
some will throw out new leaves at certain seasons of the year 
regardless of the weather, and so on with similar peculiarities in 

70 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

reference to flowering and fruiting. I have never seen a ma- 
hogany tree drop its leaves all at once unless when injured by 
flood or fire. Its foliage always looks the same. Sometimes it 
may be a little greener and there may be more young shoots 
at one time than at another, but its growth, judging from the 
appearance of its leaves, is practically continuous. 

"When M. de Charnay visited Palenque in 1859 he had the 
eastern side of the palace cleared of its dense vegetation in order 
to get a good photograph ; and when lie revisited the spot in 1881 
he found a sturdy growth of young mahogany, the age of which 
he knew did not exceed twenty-two years. Instead of making 
a ring once a year, as in our sluggish and temperate zone, these 
trees had made rings at the rate of about one in a month ; their 
trunks were already more than two feet in diameter; judging 
from this rate of growth the biggest giant in the place need not 
have been more than two hundred years old, if as much." (The 
Discovery of America, Fiske, Vol. I, page 156.) The rings in- 
dicated that those trees were over two hundred and fifty years 
old, while in reality they were not over twenty-two and pos- 
sibly younger. 

In Vera Cruz wires are run from one tree to another on 
which the vanilla vine is grown. The vanilla vine grows wild in 
the hammocks of South Florida. It has never been developed 
commercially, but it resembles very closely the vanilla of Mex- 
ico. The mahogany tree is a favorite for this purpose. Cook, 
in his report on "Shade in Coffee Culture," thus speaks of ma- 
hogany : "It has been used for shade in cacao plantations in the 
Island of Guadeloupe, and according to Guerin, is preferable to 
Erythrina Indica. since it resists parasites, and the wood is valu- 
able after thirty or forty years." 

In Trinidad the planting of mahogany under forest condi- 
tions has been advocated by Superintendent Hart of the Botan- 
ical Gardens, who finds that under favorable conditions the an- 
nual average increase of thickness in the trunk is about one inch, 
and even in trees sixty years old or over is about nine-tenths 
of an inch. American mahogany has been successfully planted 

71 



THE EVERGLADES 

in India. Even in Africa the mahogany forests are under the 
control of foresters. 

A. H. Unvvin, Forester, Benin City, West Africa, estimates 
that there are about 400 trees and 1.200 logs per square mile. 
This is less than one tree to the acre. In this region the mahog- 
any is big, with large buttress-like roots, so that the tree is cut 
from platforms 10 to 15 feet from the ground. The ground is 
so soft and trees scattered to such extent that the logs after 
being squared are pulled by man power on rough rollers to the 
nearest stream. The timber is then rafted to the coast. 

An important part of the forester's work in the Benin region 
is the planting and raising of seedlings to be planted to replace 
the trees cut. According to the old rule twenty seedlings are 
allowed for each tree felled. 

A group of young trees is made near and around the stump 
of the old tree and seedlings are also put in along the hauling 
roads. In this way a future growth is assured. In three years 
one of the plants has attained a height of 20 feet and the aver- 
age is even 15 feet. There is also a diameter limit but the figures 
are not given by Unwin. 

The firms working these lands pay a royalty and export duty 
which is sufiicient to pay the cost of the Forestry Service. 

I once had the pleasure of traveling on the steamship Sokoto 
now running from Halifax to Mexico. She was formerly in the 
West African trade, oil nuts, mahogany, etc., and her officers 
told how the naked natives propelled these logs through the 
breakers to where they could be reached by the ship's launch. 
All this labor after dragging the logs from the forest to the 
shore by man power alone, then the long journey to England 
and perhaps to America, is evidence of the laljor recjuired to 
supply the market with this valuable wood from regions where 
men do the work of oxen and machines. 

I have a sample of African mahogany secured in a wood- 
working establishment in Ottawa, Canada. It seems so light and 
soft and dull in color tliat I can liardly imagine how it could pass 
for mahogany. 

72 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

In case any enterprising person desires to grow mahogany I 
would suggest that any of the following trees be planted with it 
at the same time, since the returns would be quicker. The plant- 
ing of the following on suitable soil in a favorable location 
would no doubt in time yield handsome returns. Since mahog- 
any endures some shade the mixture would be an advantage. 

Ccdrcla toona — The "toon tree" of India and the "red cedar" 
of Australia. Wood light, soft, red, very rapid growth, a very 
valuable wood used for furniture, carvings, boxes, canoes, 
shingles, etc. 

Ccdrcla odorata — '"Cedro hembra," "Cuban cigar-box cedar" 
or "Spanish cedar." Wood similar to the above. Highly odor- 
ous and supposed to keep insects out of cigars. 

Cedrela Brasiliensis — "Acajou." Wood soft, fragrant, red, 
easily worked. Trees of this species planted in Dr. Franceschi's 
garden in Santa Barbara, Cal., have grown with great rapidity. 

Gaurca tricJiilioidcs, called "Gauraguao" in Porto Rico. This 
species closely resembles the above mentioned trees but the wood 
is not fragrant. 

When the countries of the American tropics get over the 
revolution habit, when trunk lines of railroads get established 
and freight rates decrease, and when wood gets scarcer and of 
more value, there will be stronger incentive toward the proper 
utilization and regeneration of these tropical forests. There will 
be more careful exploitation with the future in view and not 
merely the utilization of a product which nature has given us. 
We are in the habit of looking too much to the Government to 
do things. In consequence they are never done. If on the 
average one man in every ten owns and properly cares for ten 
acres of timber land, there will never be any danger of a timber 
famine. It is up to the Government, however, to arrange condi- 
tions of protection, taxation and even transportation in such a 
way that private parties may feel safe in such an enterprise. The 
main function of government is to afiford protection to prop- 
erty and life and to hold in check the greed of great corporations 
so that individual incentive, initiative and industrial activity may 



THE EVERGLADES 

have full encouragement and progress without interruption or 
onerous restrictions. 

But when one tries such a commendable enterprise in the 
land of the mahogany tree he usually comes into sudden contact 
with high taxation, with sole concessions granted to other parties, 
thievery, incendiarism, shipping fees, brokerage, graft, high 
freight rates, dishonest commission agents, local uprisings and a 
host of other difficulties which the producer has to struggle 
against before his product reaches the consumer. There is the 
producer who with the help of nature makes the product at a 
small profit and there is the consumer who uses it, is glad to get 
it and pays high for it, but between the two is always a group 
who by hook or crook usually carry off the lion's share of the 
spoil. 

Mahogany is quite common in Florida south of Biscayne 
Bay and the- Everglades. Much of this territory extending 
southward to Cape Sable is little known. There is an area as 
big as the State of Delaware in a condition of pristine wildness. 
It is usually marked the Big Mangrove swamp on the maps and 
is not unlike the big Zapata swamp on the south coast of Cuba. 

When I use the term "swamp" I mean it in the Southern 
sense, namely, a low, wet. but wooded area. Here and there in 
these swamps are slightly elevated portions or islands. On these 
islands there is usually a rich hammock growth. In these ham- 
mocks mahogany is common, in fact in one place it predominates 
to such extent that the place is called "^Madeira Hammock" or 
"Island." 

Forest land in tropical Florida may be divided into pineland, 
hammock and mangrove swamj). There are hammock islands in 
the Everglades, there are patches of hammock here and there in 
the pine woods, and some of the Florida Keys are covered or 
were originally covered with a heavy hammock growth. The 
hammock in this part of Florida consists almost entirely of trees 
of the -Antillean flora, trees which grow here and are native 
here, but many of them do not reach their optimal growth in 
this section. This ])art of Florida corresponds very closely with 
the Bahama Islands. 

74 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

The presence of hammock growth here and there may be 
explained in two or three ways. The hammock may be the 
cHmax forest. Suppose we have a bare parcel of land ; suppose 
the various forces of nature scatter seeds over this area; sup- 
pose there are no retarding influences of any kind such as flood 
or fire or insect invasion, this land would according to some 
authorities become in time and remain a hammock growth. 

If fire swept over the territory, it would soon be covered 
with nothing but pines and a few other trees able to withstand 
some fire. If floods of fresh water covered it frequently, it 
would remain a saw-grass country with perhaps clumps of 
cypress, saw palmetto and a few other trees here and there. If 
floods of salt water covered it, it would become a mangrove 
swamp. It is true that hammock growth is gradually working 
into the pine land and into the mangrove swamp, but I lean to 
the opinion that the soil where the hammock grows is richer — 
richer at the start mainly because of the nature of the rock 
which disintegrates to make the soil. 

In many parts of the tropics there is a so-called limestone 
which, when it disintegrates, yields a poor. soil. This is in truth 
not a limestone but a sandstone, the sand being cemented to- 
gether with a little lime. Wherever a pure limestone. disintegrates 
it yields a rich, reddish soil on which hammock grows. When a 
calcareous sandstone disintegrates it. yields. a poor soil on which 
the Caribbean pine predominates. A hmestone soil is usually 
good. Grain and fodder from such soil is rich in bonemaking 
ingredients and in turn the people of such soils are usually big- 
boned and rugged. 

When I said above that the land in South Florida between 
the Florida East Coast Railroad, and Cape Sable is unexplored, 
I meant that it had never been surveyed and properly mapped. 
The islands are indefinitely marked and the water courses are 
merely indicated by dotted lines. Men have been all through it 
oyer and over again. Some new travelers go into the region now 
and then, and when they look around and see no human beings 
or signs of human beings they conclude that they are discoverers 

75 




IN THE MANGKOVE SWAMP. THIS TREK GFOVV; 
CONSOLIDATOR OF MUUDV SHORES AND A 
(photo by HOMKR SAINT-GAUDENS.) 



; IN SALT WATER AND IS A GREAT 
PROTECTION IN TIMES OF STORM. 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

walking on land where the foot of white man has never trod 
before. But plume hunters, prospectors, scientists, etc., have 
been there. 

It will be a long time before mahogany is exhausted in this 
region owing to the unsettled nature of the country and its in- 
accessibility. The drainage of the Everglades may some day 
lower the level of the water throughout this whole region. Even if 
it lowers it only a few inches it will increase to a great extent 
the area where mahogany can grow. 

Over in the Bahama Islands, what we call the hammock is 
usually referred to as *'bush" or "scrub." This land is the "pro- 
vision land" where the bulk of the crops is grown. Here the 
terms bush and scrub are applied, very much as in Africa and 
Australia, to forests of considerable size, especially when there 
is a thick undergrowth. 

The Bahamas belong to Great Britain and there is mahogany 
on almost every island, but the largest quantity is on the largest 
and least settled island of Andros. These people have made good 
use of this mahogany at home in furniture and boat construc- 
tion. Labor is cheap there, but if the negroes continue to emi- 
grate to Florida as fast as during the past winter it will soon be 
scarce. 

Mahogany is seldom shipped north from Florida or the 
Bahamas because it is worth at home as much as it would bring 
in Northern markets. There is no mahogany in Porto Rico, and 
there is very little in Jamaica, so that Cuba and Santo Domingo 
are the two islands which have the most of it and which ship the 
bulk of all the West Indian mahogany in the market. 

I have been over a large part of Cuba several times and I 
believe Cuba has very little timber of any kind to spare. There 
are great areas devoid of timber. One hears of vast tracts of 
virgin timber, but they usually dwindle in size and density the 
closer one comes to them. The Spanish and American ideas as 
to quantities of timber are often at variance. I know of no 
place where forestry is more needed. Cuba exports mahogany 
and imports yellow pine. She practically trades mahogany for 
yellow pine. 

77 



THE EVERGLADES 

Cuba is not all a tropical land of luxuriant vegetation. There 
are miles after miles of pine-covered sand land in Pinar del Rio. 
The time is practically at hand when Cuba can use every stick of 
timber she cuts right at home. With a population of over 
2,000,000 and a strong emigration from Spain there is necessity 
for conserving all available timber. The houses of the well-to- 
do are now mostly made of brick, stone and tile, while the natives 
depend almost entirely on poles and palm thatch for building 
material. 

Santo Domingo is therefore left as the main source of West 
Indian mahogany for the future. In this beautiful island is con- 
centrated all that is good and bad in the West Indies. It has 
the highest mountains, the deepest valleys and the richest soil 
and vegetation of the Antilles. It was the first place to be settled 
in this continent, the last to be developed. It is here that mahog- 
any is most abundant and of fine quality. The land is rich in 
minerals, with a fine climate, or in fact many climates, with a 
thin population, with some poor pine land, but much of it is rich 
soil and as virgin in appearance as when Columbus landed. It 
consists of the famous Haitian Republic and the Republic of 
Dominica. Conditions in this island are by no means as bad as 
painted, and even Haiti, the Black Republic, has not been as 
complete and dismal a failure as is often represented. 

Some very valuable timber concessions have been granted by 
the Haitian Government within the past few years. The fol- 
lowing quoted from the New York Sun corresponds exactly with 
what I have heard from travelers who have visited the interior 
of the Black Republic : 

"That the country is sadly misgoverned by her politicians 
there seems, however, no reason to doubt. On the other hand 
Haiti pays the interest on her bonds, encourages education by 
liberal grants, protects foreigners, and of late has welcomed the 
exploitation of her natural resources by American, English and 
German capital. The hospitality of the country people, their 
sterling honesty and natural kindliness, are vouched for by all 
travelers who have disregarded the ogrelil'c reputation of the 

78 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

people and penetrated the interior. In the cities the stranger 
can always look to his consulate for protection. In short, Haiti 
is not as black as it has been painted, but we would not venture 
to predict that the feuds of her politicians will not ultimately 
compel intervention for the general good and the interests of 
other nations." 

I have never visited the interior of either Haiti or the Re- 
public of Dominica, but judging from what I have seen merely 
from the coast towns and in sailing along its shores, it is one of 
the most beautiful and varied spots of earth. Both Haiti, now 
a republic in control of negroes, once a French colony, French 
being still the common language, and the Republic of Dominica, 
once a Spanish possession, now independent with the United 
States Government in charge of its custom houses and with 
Spanish the common language, have had the most checkered 
history possible to imagine. 

I think the time is near at hand when there will be estab- 
lished a West Indian trunk line of railroad. The people of 
Florida are beginning to realize this when they see trainload after 
trainload of Cuban pineapples pass their doors. The Florida 
East Coast Railroad will soon be completed to Key West. If the 
car ferry from Key West to Havana is successful, sugar and 
other products will come direct from the plantations along the 
Cuban lines to our Northern markets without breaking cargoes. 
A trunk line of railroad now runs to the eastern end of the 
island. Another short car ferry would reach Haiti. By using 
lines already constructed Haiti and the Dominican Republic 
could be tapped at slight expense. By making another car ferry 
to Mayaguez, Porto Rico, and using the railroad already in 
operation to San Juan, this West Indian trunk line would be 
complete. When this happens, and I can see no reason why it 
should not happen, many fine forests of rich tropical woods will 
become available and will be shipped direct by rail into this coun- 
try. Owing to the lack of roads, etc., it is impossible to get 
much of this timber to the coast. Even in the Dominican Re- 
public, w^here timber is still comparatively plentiful, it costs $30 

79 



THE EVERGLADES 

per thousand or thereabouts to dehver mahogany at the ship's 
side. 

The largest portion of the Dominican and the Haitian repub- 
lics is covered with forest. According to an official report there 
are over 6,000,000 acres of hardwoods in Santo Domingo, among 
which mahogany ranks first, and mahogany from this island 
ranks first in cjuality. 

Santo Domingo has broad, high plateaus with cool climate 
where it is claimed wheat, oats, rye, apples, pears and straw- 
berries thrive. Loma Tina, 9,420 feet above sea level, is the 
highest peak in the West Indies. There are large quantities of 
Spanish cedar, also pine and "sabina," sabina being the Spanish 
name for our Florida pencil cedar. The silva of Santo Domingo 
is undoubtedly richer than that of any other West Indian island. 
These forests yield gums, resins, medicines, etc., and I have been 
told that cinchona, the tree from which quinine is made, grows in 
the mountains. Our vice consul from Puerto Plata writes as 
follows in reference to the hardwoods of Santo Domingo : 

"Those chiefly exported are cedar, mahogany, lignum vitae. 
lancewood, fustic, greenheart and mora. The largest diameters 
procurable are, in cedar, 60 inches ; mahogany, 35 inches, and 
in lignum vitae, 10 inches. On the northern side of the island 
quantities of large timber can be procured about 10 miles from 
the railroad. It is expensive to draw out the wood. There are 
no roads, and paths have to be cleared through the forests. 
The people usually drag the logs with bulls, but the more intel- 
ligent use two large wheels on an axle, on which they hang the 
timber. Roads could be made in the woods for wagons, but as 
this would be expensive it would all depend on the extent of the 
enterprise. 

"In some sections there are rivers on which the logs may 
be floated, but one has to wait for a freshet, which often delays 
three years. The facilities and price of getting out the wood 
depends entirely on the location. Where one owns the trees, 
the medium cost of felling, squaring, hauling from forest, rail- 
road freight, and delivering alongside ship is about $30, Ameri- 

80 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

can money, per 1,000 feet (mahogany or cedar). Trees can be 
bought standing at from 25 cents to $1 per tree, depending on 
the size, condition and location. It is preferable to purchase the 
right to fell over an extent of land, first going over same to esti- 
mate the amount of timber that can be gotten out, or one can 
buy it at the rate of $5 per 1,000 feet. 

"A foreigner who attends to his own business is perfectly 
safe, both in life and property. The only inconvenience that 
would be experienced is that his laborers will leave him when a 
disturbance is going on in the district where he may be working, 
to avoid being impressed either in the government or revolu- 
tionists' ranks. After this danger is past they will return to 
their work. For this kind of work, laborers can be procured at 
$1, American, per day. The price of labor is higher in this 
class, for it is considered harder than the ordinary run and as 
requiring more skill." 

Some time ago I sent a sample of Florida mahogany to Her- 
bert Stone, a wood expert and an officer of the Association of 
Economic Biologists. Aside from his scientific knowledge of 
the subject Mr. Stone has operated a business in Birmingham, 
England, in which many varieties of wood were handled. The 
following is his reply in reference to the sample sent. The 
sample was cut from a tree on Elliott's Key, Florida. The tree 
grew close to the sea. in fact was killed by a severe storm in 
October, 1906: 

"The piece of mahogany is most interesting and valuable. It 
is precisely the same as the specimen I have, named Caoba, ex- 
cept as regards depth of color." 

The specimen he refers to marked Caoba is described in 
Stone's "Timbers of Commerce." This specimen came from 
Mexico and is a type specimen received from the Royal Gar- 
dens, Kew, being one of the series of Mexican woods exhibited 
at the Paris Exposition of 1900 by the Mexican Government. 
The specimen was marked, "Caoba : Nombre Scientifico, Szvie- 
tcnia mahagoni." The alternative common name given is "Bois 
d'Acajou a Meubles," seeming to indicate according to the French 
view^ that this wood is especially fitted for furniture construction. 

81 




A COOL TlLK-CUVF.tED BL-XGAI.nU IN .-OITH I.K.\ FLOKIDA — t OM 111 .\ ATIOX WOOD 
AND STONE W ITH LOTS OF WINDOW SPACE. 



H^* 




A SHINGLKI1 i:r\C,ALO\\. mUTIII.IvX FIii|,||i\. 



From the Everglade Magazine. 




CHAPTER XII. 

BUNGALOW CONSTRUCTION IN SOUTH FLORIDA. 

XCE coming to Florida, almost ten years ago, 
1 have been designing and building bungalows. 
During this period there has hardly been a time 
when I have not been altering an old one or 
planning or building a new. All the while I 
have been striving to produce something per- 
fectly adapted to the environment. Long be- 
fore I could finish one I would discover changes 
that would cheapen the cost of construction or add beauty or 
comfort to the structure. I disregarded all precedent, had dif- 
ficulties with mechanics who would persistently do things the old 
way imtil finally I found myself doing most of the work with the 
help of a couple of negroes, who were willing workers but who 
could neither see straight nor saw straight. 

In this part of Florida we sometimes begin at the beginning 
by cutting the trees and hauling the logs to the mill. The soil is 
lime rock, some of it loose, but much of it solid. This is good 
building material and by blasting, a lot of it may be secured on a 
small space for house walls, fence walls and roads in the process 
of clearing the land. The holes when filled with trash and rak- 
ings are fine for bananas and papaws. By building a kiln of 
wood and the proper kind of rock a fairly good quality of lime 
may be secured at a very low figure. With w'ood, stone, lime, 
sand and water all ofif the very lot you are building on, the house 
becomes in truth a product of the land. 

The next step is to buy a galvanized iron pipe and a cheap 
pitcher pump. A twenty-foot length of pipe and sometimes 
much less is ample. A coupling is put on the end of the pipe. 
One edge of this coupling is filed or pounded sharp and opened 
over the beak of an anvil for a cutting surface. By churning this 



83 



THE E\'ERGLADES 

pipe up aiul down through the soft, white rock with the help of a 
Httle water two men in a few hours can have a pump in good 
working order — pump, pipe and labor not costing more than a 
ten-dollar bill. 

A pile of planed lumber, costing about ^22 per thousand, a 
case of dynamite, w'ith caps and fuse, and with plenty of lime and 
water, all is in readiness for business. I tind it pays to mix some 




A FAVOKITE TYPE OF HOISE IN THE TOBACCO DISTRICT OF WEST CUBA, WHEKE 
CLIMATIC CONDITION'S, VEGETATION, ETC., ARE SIMILAR TO SOCTH FLORIDA. 



cement in the mortar and cement is now so cheap that the in- 
crease in cost is slight. The center of a thick lime-mortar wall 
does not harden for a long time. A little cement therefore helps 
to stiflfen it. By building low of rock and timber and by giving 
the main lines of the structure the right proportions and sharp 
outlines to produce contrast, the house appears to grow out of 
the land and when surrounded by vines and shrubbery becomes 
in fact part and ])arcel of it. 

84 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

The natural conditions to be considered are long, dry periods, 
continuous sunshine for months, very heavy rains and strong 
winds at times, which drive water in a fine spray through the 
smallest chink. 

This calls for tight, cool, solid, low structures. I should add 
also that the well water is hard and cisterns are necessary, so that 
the roof must be of a material that will not taint or discolor or 
render impure the water. 

Although a forester by profession, I do not believe that the 




^L&MWjJti «'**^*«^^^' 



,^ 



i 



A CUBAN "I'.OHIO A HDlSi; lUII-T MAINLY (IF PALM THAK H. 



earth rotates upon a wooden axis, and I realize also that wood 
has been used in the past for many purposes merely because of 
its abundance and cheapness. It is, however, in the end an expen- 
sive constructive material if we consider the cost of paint and 
repairs, the danger from fire and the tribute we pay to fire and 
insurance companies. 

The appearance of it is. however, good and although rock in 
this section is as cheap at the start, even considering the low 
price of lumber, many prefer the efl:'ects gained by a combination 
of both. 



85 



TPTE FA'ERGLADES 

I have used cement blocks, concrete, paper roofing, corrugated 
iron, shingles, tile. etc. I have even used old barrel staves, cut in 
half, for shingles. When one lives near the shore there is a pos- 
sibility of collecting a lot of valuable drift lumber. I have cap- 
tured ash. mahogany and Spanish cedar logs adrift in the bay. 
The tile in my hearth came from the floor of the engine room of 
a wrecked steamer. The wrecks often yield brass hinges, etc., 
which are difficult to get in any other way. The enterprising 
beachcomber can usuallv find man^■ useful articles along the 




TVl'E OF liUNGALOW SllTED TO THF. CMMATF. OF SOl'TH FLORID.A. 



shore and the waste of lumber on the beaches is enormous, since 
it is soon riddled with holes and rendered useless by borers of 
various kinds. 

Since the roof is half the building, let me dispose of it first. 
PajKM- roofing or felt roofing is ni)t very dural)le. it taints the 
water and looks cheaj) at best, hew j^eople desire it as a perma- 
nent roof cover, although if carefully put on and frequently 

86 



AXD S0UTHP:RN FLORIDA 

painted, it is tight and lasts longer than one would expect under 
the trying conditions of the tropics. 

We have no snow, of course, and steep roofs are therefore 
unnecessary ; in fact the roofs I have built have grown flatter 
until I have now reached the flat roof stage. A flat roof is 
easier to build, requires less material and in heavy rains and high 
winds much of the water blows off instead of into the house. 

Shingles taint the water, curl up and open up in the hot sun 
so that the rain beats in and insects find a fine harbor under 

fWALL PER'GOLAn 

^i nSiTWNcHT J 



wali 

entrance-^ 




Pergola -^ 



-Wall Fe^6ola' 



them. Corrugated iron is hot and noisy, although extensively 
used everywhere in the tropics, because it is c^eap and quickly 
put on. It is tight and yields good water. Covered with concrete 
it forms a fine roof. Tiles are beautiful and cool, but they are 
seldom tight and since they are usually elevated on strips a 
couple of inches above the boards of the roof they form a fine 
harbor for rats and other vermin. If everv crack is cemented 



87 



THE EVERGLADES 

an enterprising tropical rat will work at a tile till he loosens it. 
In time he will succeed in pulling out cement enough to squeeze 
through. Then he has lovely quarters. He could not be safer 
from intrusion. 

I no longer build large houses. I have adopted instead the 
unit system on the bookcase plan. Each unit measures twelve by 
twenty-two or thereabouts. These can be built around a central 
court in any number to suit the size of your family, your lot 
and your bank account. These may be connected by "blow- 
ways" or "dog trots" or "pergolas" or "galleries" or "porches." 
I was working toward this plan when I struck the following 



ClSTEl^N 




LEADER. FR.OM ROOF 



CONCRETE SLAB 
OVER CISTERN 



■WIMDOWS, COVERED WITH 
COPPER WIRE FOR 
VENTILATIOM.BIG E/^OUGH 
TO CRAAX/L THROUGH 

PIPE AND SPIGOT 



FLOOR OF COURT 



CONE SHAPED BOTTOM 



in an article on Chinese art in the International Encyclopedia : 
"A Chinaman's house, if he is a rich man, is a group of small 
one-story buildings interspersed with gardens, all within a bound- 
ing wall." 

That lUls my bill exactlv, and I am neither Chinese nor rich. 
The cost of a unit is about $200 and each unit ought to be rentable 
almost anywhere at $5 per month. Suppose one owns only a 
small lot. Place a unit on each corner. Connect the units with 
pergolas and close the spaces open to the street with an attrac- 
tive wall. In the center one would have a spacious patio. 



88 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

In the patio is the place for the cistern, which should be built 
above ground. If above ground the water may be completely 
drawn off at any time by means of a spigot. The bottom of the 
cistern should be cone-shaped, with the apex down, from which 
the pipe leading to the spigot should start. In that way every 
speck of sediment may be drawn off at any time. 

In the tropics the cistern should l)e screened and well ven- 
tilated. It is cooler above ground than below it. Pump water is 
always warm in cool weather. If the cistern material is slightly 
porous all the better. The evaporation will cool the water like a 
Spanish oUa and on the basis of the iceless refrigerator. It is 
necessary to screen out the mosquitoes since cisterns are their 
favorite breeding places. 



FT 



2.2. FT 



-PIER 



•PIEE 



The flat roofs are fine places for solar heaters. A flat tank 
on the roof into which water may be pumped by hand with a 
small force pump in a sunshiny climate yields fine, warm water 
for bathing if covered with glass sash. 

The following is a brief discription of how I build a unit 
house: I lay up a narrow wall of rough stone (12x22 feet), a 
foot or more above the ground. I usually build against boards 
and pile in mortar and rock. This enclosure I fill with rock, 
which is packed and pounded down solid. Over the surface of 
this I lay a cement floor. 

On the cement floor I set up frames of 2x6-inch stuff, each 
frame 8x8 feet, two frames on each side and one at each end. 



89 



THE K\*ERGLADES 

This leaves room for three piers on each side. These piers are 
triangular in shape, showing two feet on each face on the out- 
side. They are constructed of concrete, one part cement, two 
sand and four blasted rock. This mixture is thrown in a wet 
state inside of rough pier forms. 

By making these piers triangular they are strong; it gives a 
fine space inside for hanging a mirror or picture or for shelves 
and it avoids sharp corners in the house. The tops of the 8x8 
frames serve as a plate on which the roof beams rest. They rest 
also on the tops of the piers. 

All roofs in the tropics should have a good overhang. In 
early times on this coast houses were built with practically no 




:;i p I i | 111 ^ II J 



FRA.ME5 ZX6 
PIER 

FOUNDATION- 
'WALL 



'FIER 



PIER 



CEMENT PLOGR 



eaves. They saved lumber and felt safer in times of storm. 
Eaves throw the w^ater from the house and shade the walls, thus 
rendering the house much cooler, since the secret of keeping cool 
in the tropics is keeping in tlie shade and in good ventilation. 

On top of the roof-beams 1 la}' corrugated iron. Boards may 
be used instead between the beams and afterwards removed. On 
this I lay four inches of concrete reinforced with poultry fencing, 
barbed wire or common galvanized wire of any kind. A rim of 
cement serves for a gutter and the slope is left to one corner or 
to the middle of one side. Thus iron gutters are dispensed with. 
This roof forms a pleasant mirador and a second story may be 
put on in the same way if the owner desires. 



90 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

The main part is complete — the finish is easy. A Tropical 
house should have many openings so as to be all-porch in hot 
weather and yet tight as a drum in times of storm. Tongue 
and groove stuff shingled on the outside is good. I use narrow 
shingles (three-inch) and put one nail in each shingle. A small 
shingle when it contracts makes a smaller crack than a wider one 
and if only one nail is used it is less apt to split in the process of 
expansion and contraction. I prefer shingles and up-and-down 
boarding to clapboards, since then the rain drips or runs down 
with the grain of the wood. Good copper screening is necessary, 
but glass is often dispensed with, solid board shutters being often 
used. 

Such a building is cool and cheap. It has no large timbers 
in it. It is anchored to the ground by stone pillars and a solid 




GATE ^STONE 



slab of a roof. One of the corner piers may be made hollow 
for a chimney, and a fireplace is pleasant since there comes a 
time in almost all tropical countries when a hre]3lace fire is 
grateful. 

Such a house looks plain and solid — Assyrian or Zuni-like 
in character — quite in contrast to many of our ornate, ginger- 
bread carpenteresque constructions, but the shubbery in the 
patio and the vine-covered pergolas and fences with many 
shades of leaf and flower give it all variety necessary. These 
units may be connected with a fence and the following I have 
found to be very good and not very expensive : Put up posts 
ten or twelve feet apart, five or six feet high and one foot 
square, built in a form of the same kind of concrete mentioned 
above. Connect these with a wall two or three feet high. Run 

91 



THE EVERGLADES 

a 4x4 railing along the top of the posts and fill the space with 
poultry wire. This is "horse high, pig tight and bull strong." 
and is at the same time attractive and fine for vines. These unit 
houses cannot properly be called Inmgalows. since a bungalow 
is supposed to be a low. flat, rambling, wooden structure, often 
with a thatched roof in the East Indies, but the term in 'America 




E.NTTSANCE 
TO COTE. 



ENTRANCE 

TO PIGE-ON 

DEPT 



DOOR. 



DOOT?. 



now covers a multitude of sins. One of these unit houses I 
have built for a garage, but prefer to call it an "autola." One 
unit may be used for a kitchen and lavatory. In case the baby 
is cross or some one snores it is easy to relegate them to the 
units in the farthest corner of the patio. In conclusion let me 
add that no place, however small, is complete without a place 



92 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

for animals of various kinds, the houses for which may be built 
in the same way around a central court. Then, too, many people 
are fond of pigeons. I have built a dove cote twenty feet in the 
air on top of four posts put slantwise in the ground. Two feet 
from the ground I have built a floor of boards which serves as 
a roof for the ducks and a floor for the hens. Six or eight feet 
higher up I have built another board floor, which serves as a 
roof for the chickens and floor space for pigeons. The whole is 
enclosed in netting. The pigeon house has a hole in the center 
underneath so that they can enter their department from below 
and thus be safe from intruding hawks. 



93 




A UNIT HOUSE IX PROCESS OF CONSTRUCTION. CONCRETE ROOF AND CONCRETE 
FLOOFS. THIS HOUSE CONSISTS OF THREE UNITS JOINED TOGETHER ON A 
TRIANGULAR EOT. VIEW FROM SOUTHWEST. 

(photo by KAUFMAN, MIAMI, FLA.) 




U^^" 

1^-. 



AMK HOISE — VIEW FKOM NORTHWEST. 



From Southland Ma(/a::iiu\, igio. 




CHAPTER XIII. 

THE EVERGLADES OE FLORIDA. 

OUTH of Lake Okeechobee, reputed to be the 
largest body of fresh water wholly within 
the confines of the United States except, of 
course, Lake Michigan, is a large tract of 
marsh land, called the Everglades. A glade 
is usually defined as a grassy opening, strip 
or lane, between growths of trees. There are 
many such little glades between the long 
pine-covered ridges which jut out into what the natives desig- 
nate the main or Big Glades. This is, no doubt, the meaning of 
the word Everglades, the term ever signifying all, or wholly 
glade or grassy, with few islands — in short, mile after mile of 
low grass morass. 

This territory is all south of latitude 27°, the same latitude 
as the valleys of the Nile and Ganges, and is the only part of 
the mainland of the United States with a tropical or Antillean 
flora, for although a part of Texas is also below this same 
parallel, the land is more or less arid, and there is no great 
body of warm water to the northwestward to temper the cold 
winds from that quarter. We may safely say, therefore, that 
the Everglade region is the only part of the mainland of the 
United States which is truly humid tropical, the only place 
where tropical crops can be successfully produced without irri- 
gation, although irrigation is desirable in almost all tro|)ical 
countries. 

The warm trade winds reach us from the West Indies, so 
that climatically and botanically we are in the same class with 
Western Cuba and the Bahamas, and, although it is a little 
cooler here in winter, it is all the better, since cool weather, 
up to a certain point, of course, produces quality in fruits and 



95 



THE EVERGLADES 

vegetables — that is, richness of flavor combined with firmness, 
permitting shipments long distances. 

The Everglade region is over three million acres in extent, 
fully as large as Porto Rico or Jamaica. From the center of 
Lake Okeechobee to Miami is at least a hundred miles, and 
southward to the shore of the Bay of Florida is fifty more. 

Although there are patches of sand and marl and rock, the 
soil of the Everglades is mostly black muck, the result of ages 
of decomposition of vegetable matter. Reclaimed muck lands 
throughout the world usually have great productivity, and, there- 
fore, high value. The fact that these muck lands are in a region 
where tropical fruits and tropical staple crops, such as sugar 
cane, as well as Northern vegetables, grow in midwinter, gives 
this region an added value over muck lands elsewhere. I spoke 
above of "Northern vegetables," but we must not forget that 
the original home of many of these was in the Southland. 

This vast area of mud sloughs is usually completely inun- 
dated for several months of the year. It is a weary w'aste of 
saw-grass, through which neither walking nor boating is satis- 
factory. Remove the water, burn oflf the saw-grass, and the 
aspect soon changes. The cool breezes sweep over it ; it is a 
broad, level ])rairie ; other grasses and wild flowers appear. 
With teams plowing and cattle pasturing, it would look not 
unlike the low countries of Europe, which the enterprising Dutch 
have wrested from the sea, nor unlike the prairies of Louisiana 
which our own people have reclaimed by holding the mighty 
Mississippi in its course. Although the whole body of the Ever- 
glades is considerably above sea level (Lake Okeechobee 23 
feet), the water could not escape to the sea, because of sand 
dunes and a rock rim around the edges. This rock rim, although 
usually called limestone, is in reality in many sections a calcare- 
ous sandstone, and was once no doubt mobile. It was blown 
in by the wind in the form of a dune and afterwards hardened 
into rock called Miami oolite. These dunes, just as has hap- 
pened in other parts of the world, notably the Landes of 
France, choked uj) the rivers, caused inundation, and this in turn 
caused the formation of muck and bottled up a great mass of 

96 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

fertility for future use. Before tliis dune hardened many 
streams succeeded in working holes through it, and this explains 
many of the subterranean channels to the bay and ocean. This 
dune formation and wind origin of limestone ridges is no fairy 
tale. Go to Eleuthera, in the Bahamas, and other places of a 
like nature, and you will see it in all stages. 

It is worthy of note in passing that just to the west of the 
Everglades are great deposits of phosphate, the remains of sea 
animals, rich in phosphorus, the scarcest and most precious of 
plant foods, in fact, also animal foods, since foods deficient in 
it are deficient in bone-making qualities. One-third of the 
world's phosphate supply is here in Florida, and in time the 
fertility of the great agricultural soils of the world will be 
measured by the amount of phosphorus available. It is more 
than likely that phosphate beds will be found in the Everglades. 

On the south the Everglade region is bounded by a little- 
known section, usually marked on the map the Big Mangrove 
Swamp. Much of this section has never been surveyed, and 
less is really known about it than is known of Angola or Quin- 
tana Roo. On the maps the stream courses are usually marked 
with dotted lines. Some maps show White \\'ater Bay as a big 
sheet of water ; others don't show it at all. In this region there 
is considerable hardwood, even mahogany, locally known as 
madeira. It is so common in one place that it furnishes the 
name "Madeira Hammock." This madeira is the true mahog- 
any, Sivietcnia Mahogoiii, and samples which I sent to London 
experts were pronounced first class for solid furniture and 
appeared identical in character with a specimen of mahogany, 
or Caoba, which was sent l)y the government of Mexico to the 
Paris Exposition. 

On the northwestern edge of the Everglades is the Big 
Cypress Swamp, one of the largest and finest bodies of cypress 
timber left in the South. 

The drainage work now under way and certain to be com- 
pleted within a short time, since the work is in charge of a 
competent engineer, and the contract has been let to a Baltimore 
firm accustomed to handling such big enterprises, is being paid 

97 



THE EVERGLADES 

for by the sale of lands. The question of drainage resolves itself 
into two factors, all a matter of digging through mud and rock, 
opening the outlets to the sea and lowering the level of Lake 
Okeechobee. For example, suppose we have one big plate rep- 
resenting the Everglades as a whole. Inside this plate on the 
edge to one side is another very much smaller plate, represent- 
ing Lake Okeechobee. Flowing into the small plate is a large 
quantity of water from another watershed. The small or Okee- 
chobee plate spills over and in the course of time the Everglade 
plate spills over its rim into the sea. I have seen the water rise 
at the south end oi the Glades w-ithout any rain or signs of rain. 
But it had rained up the State and filled to overflowing the 
Okeechobee plate. Of course, there are local rains which come 
quickly and heavily ; in fact, there are rains called "glade 
rains." In the summer I have seen it day after day raining on 
the Glades, while the bay shore was suffering from drought. 
What passes away through underground channels and what 
passes away through evaporation and transpiration is probably 
quite equal to the precipitation, and I have always believed that 
if the excess from Okeechobee could be disposed of. floods 
would be seldom and of slight duration in tiie Everglades. The 
rivers which run into the sea are narrow and clogged with rocky 
bottoms. Two or three streams of considerable size disappear 
on the edge of the Glades and appear again in the form of big 
springs on the edge of Biscayne Bay. 

There were attempts at drainage in times past, but they did 
little good. To be sure, they lowered the water a little and 
increased the zone dry enough for cultivation around the edge 
and permitted earlier cropping, but these attempts were like 
nibbles at a big project which had to be complete throughout 
and on a large scale in order to l)e effective. 

The late Napoleon Broward, witli tlie eye of a practical 
man, knew good land when he saw it. and knew also that water 
would run down hill. Used to ]:)ulling wrecks off reefs, he came 
to conclusions quickly and intuitively. When some insisted that 
it would take fifteen years of rainfall observations, several 
years of careful topograjihical siu-veying and the reports of 

98 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

several expensive and conHicting experts to determine the feasi- 
bility of his scheme, he was abashed, but not discouraged. He 
replied: "I will be dead by that time. The State will be poor 
and the money thus expended would buy a couple of dredges. 
We can sell some land to build dredges and if my friends will 
hold the knockers in check, we can soon make a convincing ocular 
demonstration." Corporate interests which had lost their grip 




A SCENE IN THE PIXE LAND ON THE MAINLAND. THE PINES (P. CARIBAEA) 
IN THE BACKGROUND. THE ROAD IS CONSTRUCTED OF LIME-ROCK, ALSO THE 
FENCE. THE ROCK WAS TORN FROM THE CLEARING ON THE LEFT BY GRUB- 
BING AND BLASTING. (PHOTO BY PROF. JOHN CRAIG.) 

on these lands, of course, opposed him out of sheer bitterness, 
but there were also hundreds of knockers, strange to say, among 
home people, who had nothing to lose and everything to gain, 
and who talked it down by the hour on the street corners to 
every newcomer. I remember visiting the Everglades with one 
of the first groups of newcomers from New Mexico. They had 
heard so many stories that they were skeptical. Instead of being 



99 



THE EVERGLADES 

disheartened at tlie >iglit of so much water, coming from a land 
of drought and desert, they enthused over it, and without 
exception bought, and most of them liave Ijouglit and sold several 
times since. 

To Broward the credit is due. He was to Florida what 
Bremontier and ("liamljrelent were to France and Dalgas to 
Denmark. 




SCENK IX EGYPT, WHICH IS I.N" THE SA.ME L.^TITUDE AS SOUTH FLORIDA, WHERE 
FL.'VT ROOFS NOT OXLV PREVAIL, BUT WHERE THEY ARE USED AS MUCH AS 
ANY ROOM IN" THF. nWEI.I.IXG. 

Ilroward ])ossessed to a striking degree the three qualities 
that make good manhood and citizenship — he was honest, he 
had a lot of good coninKm sense, and he had also the sense of 
humor. Above all. Ik- had common sense — the sense of propor- 
tions — good judgment or the ability to do the right thing in 
the right wa}" and at the right time. 1 Ic worked against jealous 
and greedy corporations, rival politicians and a host of born 
knockers, but he fought a good bght. and I'lorida owes more to 

lUU 



AND SOUTHERX FLORIDA 

Broward than to any other man. In Arcachon. in the Landes 
of France, there is a statue of Bremontier, tlie man who added 
a new province to that RepubHc by the reclamation of swamp 
land. Soon there will be, probablx- in Jacksonville, a monument 
to Broward, the man who was the maker of South Florida. 

I have called this the greatest conservation project in the 
United States because at the cost of about one dollar, an acre 
of land capable of producing net two hundred dollars' worth 
of vegetables annually is actually formed out of the useless mud 
sloughs. The saw-grass can be quickly burnt and the land is 
ready for the plow, with plenty of water for irrigation pur- 
poses, if it is necessary. Compare this with the cost of any 
of our irrigation projects. Think of buying a farm and paying 
for it with the first year's crop ! Land dry enough to crop rents 
now at ten dollars per acre. 

The Chattahoochie Canal is practically done. This leads 
from Okeechobee to the Gulf. A dredge is working southward 
from Okeechobee on the main canal toward Miami. Another is 
working northward from Miami, and two are at work back of 
Fort Lauderdale, well out into the Glades. 

These are all fine, large canals and of great usefulness for 
transportation as soon as the dams are replaced Ijy locks. Dams 
are now necessary to hold back the water to float the dredges. 

What will grow in the Everglades is a hard question to 
answer. It would be easier to tell what will not grow there. 
Under the head of fruits there are about fifty kinds which grow 
in this region ; add to this list almost all the vegetables grown 
in the tropics and the North ; add to this many staples and 
forage crops; many bushes and vines and three hundred or 
more useful native and introduced trees. 

As the water goes down there is left over the Glades a 
deposit of lime. This is mostly precipitated lime, which goes to 
form marl. Mixed with it are the shells of fresh-water mol- 
lusks, and in some places tons of dead fish. During the past 
summer I saw pool after pool filled with dying and putrefying 
fish, emitting an unbearable stench. Around these pools w^ere 
hundreds of birds, buzzards, herons and crackles, all eating their 

101 



THE EVERGLADES 

fill from these charnel pits, and fighting and screaming over the 
booty. When the land is all drained these spots will have mag- 
ical fertility. 

That the Everglades will be drained within about a couple 
of years seems certain, and that people are coming here is 
already evident. Although houses to rent are scarce and board 
in the tourist season high, it is the land for the poor man. The 
climate is fine — fully as good as any Mediterranean, Caribbean 
or Calif ornian climate. Wood is cheap for fuel and house con- 
struction. A rustic bungalow can be cheaply made and a pipe 
churned into the ground to a depth of fifteen feet or less yields 
an abundance of water. There is plenty of rock for roads, 
fences and house construction. The surrounding waters are 
famous for fish of many varieties. The inland canal route from 
Jacksonville to Key West is done. There will be miles of inland 
canals, and there is bay after bay along the shore. 

In Southern California the hand of man has produced a 
highly developed and attractive region with no resources except 
vim and climate. Obstacles were met on every hand. In South- 
ern Florida we have the resources, but the vim has been lacking. 
We have been reposing since the Seminole war. It is not lazi- 
ness. We have been indulging our love of leisure. But it is 
this grappling with nature which develops the latent forces 
within the man. The coming age is to be an age of conquest, 
the conquest of nature, the reclamation of swamp lands and 
the irrigation of deserts. 



102 



Front the Garden Magazine for January, igu. 

Copyright by Doubleday, Page & Co. 



CHAPTER XI\\ 

THE PROBLEM OF GROWING PINEAPPLES FOR 

MARKET. 




FEW years ago the pineapple was extensively 
cultivated on the coral keys of Florida. The 
natives cut the forest, burnt the wood and 
debris on the ground and planted "pines" in 
the ashes. I protested against this method 
l)ccause it destroyed the humus, and ordered 
all wood and brush burnt in piles on my land. 
-My man. a luihaman negro, well versed in the 
pineapple business, insisted that the land must be "hot" for pines, 
that they needed the ashes, and that if the burning was done in a 
moist time only the surface rubbish would be destroyed. Time 
proved that he was right. These pineapple fields were weeded 
once or twice a year, no fertilizer was applied, but a heavy yield 
was secured in sjiite of the Sjiarseness of the soil and the crude 
nature of cultivation. 

But what a mess it was at harvest time ! They commenced 
to break pines in early summer. The plants were full of spines 
and more than waist high. Canvas mittens were necessary. It 
was usually hot and the mosquitoes were a pest beyond descrij)- 
tion. The negroes toted the pines to the boat in baskets on 
their heads, over rough rocks along narrow, well-worn paths. 
There is uncut land left on these keys and a railroad is now in 
operation in a part of this region, but the pineapple business is 
practically dead. A\'ith a field of pines and a patch of limes and 
wrecking on the side these Key people were once well-to-do and 
their lands were valuable. 

Further up tlic State along the East Coast there is a long 
stretch of sand dune country. It was covered with a sparse 



104 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

growth of pine trees and the soil was naturally sterile. A bal- 
anced ration of fertilizer was applied by the pineapple growers 
and immense crops were produced, a few acres yielding a fine in- 
come. Of late, returns have been small and many growers have 
quit the business. Over in the Bahama Islands it is the same 
story. 

In Cuba there is a lot of soil especially adapted to pineapple 
culture. An owner of a young citrus grove plants pineapples 
between the trees and thus receives a quick return. The Cuban 
people are fond of the pineapple or "la piiia" as they call it. 
It is ground fine, sweetened and mixed with cracked ice. It is 
sold in this form at all refreshment stands and is certainly one 
of the most refreshing drinks imaginable on a hot day. If served 
throughout the United States in this way it would soon become 
popular. This would increase the consumption of this fruit to 
an enormous extent. 

One hears complaints of small returns on pines even in 
Cuba. In fact it looks like a case of overproduction. The pine- 
apple is well known in the North, is largely canned and relished 
by everybody. We import twelve million dollars' worth of 
bananas every year, but the pineapple, coming only at a special 
season and not having the filling food value of the banana, is at 
a disadvantage. The pineapple suffers severely in the process 
of transportation. It is usually picked too green. A pine is 
at its best when it ripens on the plant. A ripe pine may be 
located in the patch by the fragrance which spreads far and 
wide. A rat may have eaten one side but you will find the other 
side very delicious. 

Good drainage seems essential to the pineapple and it is no 
doubt for this reason that it does so well in sandy soil. In the 
Hawaiian Islands they grow pines on a stiff soil, the favorite 
variety being the smooth Cayenne. 

The pineapple is a strictly tropical fruit needing lots of 
warmth, and. although it will grow on sterile, sandy soil, it must 
be carefully and abundantly fed with fertilizer. The food it 
needs is rich — such as cottonseed meal, unleached tobacco dust 
and dried blood and bone. 

105 



THE EVERGLADES 

Although the pineapple is referred to as a semi air-plant, 
since it belongs with a group of epiphytes, it must have something 
more than air to live on. Water often stands in little pockets at 
the base of the leaves. In this are often the dead bodies of 
insects and it is ([uite likely that the plant secures some suste- 
nance in this way. It is a very shallow rooter and the roots must 
have air. I have known i)ineapples to actually sucker themselves 
out of the ground and have found them resting very loosely in 
the fluffy humus which covers the rocks on the Florida Keys. 
Although I have no means of positively knowing, I believe Florida 
produces one and one-half million crates of pines a year. Cuba 
probably exceeds this amount, also the Bahama Islands. This 
places the pine in the front rank with other staple fruits. 

The Red Spanish is the chief commercial variety. It multi- 
plies well, is hardier and ships better than any other sort known 
to the writer. The Porto Rico is a close second. 

The pineapple is not seriously troubled by disease and in 
spite of the small returns it is still a favorite crop with many 
small farmers. It is easily reproduced from slips and suckers. 
Now and then a fertile seed is produced. Pines may be grown 
from rattoons which spring from the root, suckers which grow 
on the stem higher up, slips which grow at the base of the fruit, 
crown slips which grow at the base of the crown, and from the 
crown itself. In this district slips from the base of the fruit are 
ordinarily used. The bottom of the slip should be cut smooth 
with a sharp knife and the stem trimmed. There is less danger 
of a trouble called "tangle root." 

Canning factories use many pines, but man\- go to waste that 
could be easily converted into commercial alcohol. It is one of 
the fruits which does not lend itself to wine manufacture but 
would probably yield a good cordial. The pineapple, it is claimed, 
contains a ferment similar to the ferment in the papaw which 
aids digestion. In the East the fiber of the leaf is extensively 
used for cloth manufacture. This cloth is as delicate and beau- 
tiful as silk. The fiber is used for nets, thread for sewing, etc., 
and although very fine it is strong. I have often wondered why 
an extensive industry in this line has not developed in the West 

106 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

Indies. A pineapple field in dry weather, like a field of cane, is 
very combustible. 

The scientific name of the pineapple is now Ananas ananas, 
which is also a common Spanish name for the plant although 
pifia is much more frequently used. I have often thought that 
ananas would be a better common name for it than pineapple. 
It is, of course, nothing like an apple and was so called probably 
because it faintly resembles in shape the pine cone. We are 
calling grapefruit, pomelo; alligator pear, avocado; why not call 
the pineapple ananas ? 

It appears from present conditions that in pineapple culture, 
in spite of the duty, Western Cuba has the advantage. When 
solid trainloads of pines sweep by from Cuba over the Florida 
East Coast Railway, and when his returns come in, the Florida 
pineapple grower realizes that he has a competitor to the south 
of him and that he lives at a way station on a West Indian trunk 
line. 



107 




THE SUNDERSHA MAXGO, OXE OF THE LATEST TO KIPEX. 
(PHOTO BY KAIFMAX.) 



From the Gardoi Mayazinc, February, iiju. 
Copyright by Doubleday, Page & Co. 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE MANGO, THE BEST OF ALL THE 
TROPICAL FRUITS. 




( )\[\\ call the mango "the apple of the tropics." 
it is more; it is the apple, peach and pear 
combined. The novice in eating the old com- 
mon seedling sorts meets with difficulties. 
Such an experience is sure to prejudice him 
against mangoes forever. These old-time 
sorts have the smell and taste of turpentine 
and a tough cottony fiber around their big 
seeds which completely fills the crevices between the teeth, mak- 
ing business for the dental profession. It is mushy, slippery and 
hard to hold. The juice stains the clothing. One smells and 
feels and looks as though he had been the victim of a yellow 
paint accident. After eating such a fruit for the sake of three 
or four tablespoonfuls of pulp, one must take a bath and then 
retire to some shady nook for the rest of the day to pick his 
teeth. But some of the improved sorts which sell locally at 
twenty-five cents each are quite otherwise. The skin peels ofif 
easily, the aroma is pleasant, there is no fiber, the seed is small, 
the fruit weighs twenty or more ounces and the creamy, deli- 
cious peach-like pulp melts in your mouth. I have never tasted 
a mangosteen, which, according to the books, holds the world's 
record for goodness, but of all the fruits I know, temperate and 
tropical, two or three varieties of mangoes lead in my estima- 
tion. 

South Florida is making rapid strides in mango culture. 
Many varieties have been introduced from all parts of the tropics, 
both by the Government and enterprising growers. Many choice 

109 



THE ENERGLADES 

seedlings are just coming into fruit and our budders are learn- 
ing the trick. 

I have always contended that a Florida seedling mango will 
become the commercial mango of the future. Xone of the 
choice imported sorts fill the bill perfectly. There is usually 
some defect, such as shy bearing, poor carrying qualities, or 
lack of resistance against pests. If the Government had im- 
ported a large quantity of seeds of all the best varieties of man- 
goes the world affords ten years ago, we would now have several 
new varieties of local origin which would exactly fill the bill for 
home needs and shipment North. It is possible that we have 
it anyway in the form of a seedling Mulgoba, bearing this year 
for the first time; it is too early to say. But this tree bears 
fruits of a large size, of very beautiful coloring; hard, rather 
thick skin ; no fiber ; small flat seed and delicious flavor. It re- 
mains to be seen whether it is a shy bearer or not. This is the 
fault of many of these high-grade mangoes. It is possible that 
this difficulty may be remedied by root-pruning, girdling, or by 
proper fertilizing. 

I have a little book on the mango written by Woodrow of 
India, the man who sent Mulgoba plants to Florida in 1889, 
in which over eighty varieties of mangoes are listed and this 
is probably not more than half of the varieties now known, 
many of which are of recent origin and many of which are no 
good. 

For instance, the Alphonse, Alphoos or Alfoss is highly 
prized. Higgins thus describes it: "This is one of the most 
noted of the India mangoes. Size, medium to large ; color, 
greenish yellow on the unexposed side and running to yellow on 
the exposed side, which is overlaid with light red ; peeling quali- 
ties excellent; texture excellent, may be readily eaten with a 
spoon; flavor unique, with a peculiar mingling of acidity and 
sweetness in the bright colored fruit." In looking over Wood- 
row's list, on the other hand, one runs up against all kinds 
of Alphonses. For instance : 

Afonza of Goa ; Alphonze, Kirkee, "the keeping qualities of 
this fruit are excellent and it is generally admitted the best of all 

110 



AND SOUTHERX FLORIDA 

mangoes. TJic iiainc is of plied in the markets to many distinct 
sorts of greatly z'aried tnerit." (The italics are mine.) Kola- 
Alphonse ; Kagdi-Alphonse, Bombay ; Surawini xA.lphonse, Bom- 
l)ay. In fact, it seems that whenever they found a really good 
mango, they called it Alphonse. 

The Alulgoba, Canibodiana and a long yellowish kind from 
Burmah are my favorites. There is a little mango in Florida 
about the size of a peach, yellow in color, with a beautiful pink 
l)lush on one side. It has a thin skin, no fiber and delicious 
flavor. It is commonly called the "peach mango" and was 
raised from seed sent from Jamaica. For home use one would 
hardly wish for a more perfect fruit. 

The Khatkia, according to Woodrow, is meant to be sucked, 
while others such as Fernandino II. of Goa is a cooking mango 
of special value. It should be stated to the credit of the mango 
that good apple pies can be made from the green fruit. The 
merits of the many kinds is a fruitful topic of discussion among 
mango cranks. Conclusions are not warranted as yet. It takes 
time to settle such questions. Some of the old timers with per- 
verted taste settle it by saying that the common turpentine man- 
go is good enough for anybody. 

The mango belongs to a disreputable family, the Spondi- 
acese or sumac family. It is probably the most respectable of 
all its relations. It is represented in Florida by a poison tree 
{Mctopinm Metopinm) commonly called hog plum, poisonwood, 
bumwood and doctor gum. It includes the cashew nut (Ana- 
cardium occidentale), the jobo, pronounced hobo, and should be 
spelled the same way (Spoudias lutca), the famous pepper tree 
{Schinus malic') so common in California, and the cassava 
{Manilwt Manihot). 

In spite of the highly poisonous nature of many plants of 
this family, the mango is very wholesome although I have heard 
of one or two cases of "mango rash" due presumably to the 
excessive eating of this fruit. Negroes in many parts of the 
tropics practically quit work during mango season, devoting 
themselves assiduously to making the best of a good thing while 
it lasts. 

Ill 



THE EVERGLADES 

The mango is a beautiful, broad-spreading shade tree. Its 
rounded crown and dense fohage form a perfect shelter from 
tlie sun. It has a dark green leaf larger than, but similar in 
shape to that of the peach. It is never leafless. The young 
leaves are a beautiful pinkish red. The tree grows to be very 
large and groups of such trees around the homestead are strik- 
ing features of many tropical landscapes. 

The flowers are small but profuse and a dry winter season 
is favorable to a good crop. Some of the common mangoes 
bear heavily almost every year, the branches bending to the 
ground with the w^eight of fruit. In planting the seed it is best 
to remove the outer covering or case by carefully cutting the 
margin with a sharp knife. The seed may contain two or three 
embryos, so that is is often possible to secure two or even three 
trees from a single seed. It is a promising fruit for South 
Florida and. although it bears in the summer when peaches and 

other Xorthern fruits are in the market, it will sell on its merits ; 
and besides there is the probability of keeping it in cold stor- 
age till winter, when the tourists come with plenty of money 
and good appetites for the fruits of the land. By this means, 
too, the railroads and commission men may be prevented from 
robbing the owner of the fruits of his toil. Ten years in the 
future Florida mangoes will be famous. i\Iany local varieties 
will be developed and perfected and become as well and as 
favoral)ly known as is the Florida standard grapefruit or pomelo 
The same prediction applies to the avocado or alligator xif^ar. 



112 



APPENDIX 



A LIST OF THE TRKKS OF SOUTH FLORIDA. XATUE AND IXTKODUCED. 

The following list is of course by no means complete. Florida 
is a land of many flowers, fruits and forests. It is difficult at 
times to distinguish between a shrub and a tree. Xew trees are being 
introduced into this country' almost every day, and of the great 
number of tropical trees in the world there are many which have 
never been tried and which will probably grow here as well, if not 
better, than in their native land. 




WEST L\UL\..\" ALMOND TREES BEXT BY THE WIND. 



ORDER CYCADACEAE. CYCAS FAMILY. 

Cycas revoluta. Sago Palm. 

To this same order belongs our common coontic or comptie 
(Zamia Floridana), a valuable starch-yielding plant, which might be 
used to advantage in the manufacture of grain alcohol. 

114 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

ORDER PINACEAE. PINE FAMILY. 
Pinus clausa. Sand Pine. 

Coast of East I'^lorida on sand dunes. 
Pinus Caribaea. Cuban Pine. 

The common timber pine of South Florida. Grows also in West 
Indies and Central America. Also called Pinus EUiottii — Slash Pine. 
This pine and the Longleaf or Yellow Pine yield the naval stores of 
our South. It is generally believed that resin will not run satisfac- 
torily in Tropical Florida. The wood resists sea worms better than 
any of our native pines. 

ORDER JUNIPERACEAE. JUNIPER FAMILY. 
Taxodium distichum. Bald Cypress. 

A valuable timber tree. 
Taxodium imbricarium. Pond Cypress. 

A species recently named by Harper. 




AN AVENUE OF THE WEST INDIAN ALMOND, A FAVORITE SHADE TREE IN THE 
WEST INDIES. NOT SIMILAR TO NOR RELATED TO THE ALMOND OF COMMERCE. 



Thuja occidentalis. Arborvitae. 

Various cultivated varieties of this tree commonly planted for 
shade and ornament. Probably does not extend naturally southward 
further than the mountains of North Carolina. 
Sabina Virginiana. Red Cedar. 

The word "sabina," corresponding to the English savin, is a 
better name than the old name Juniperus. Sabina is the common 
name of the following species in Cuba and Santo Domingo. 

115 



THE E\'ERGLADES 

Sabina Barbadensis. Pencil Cedar. 

l-()rnK'rl\- called Junii)crus Barbadensis. 

The famous pencil cedar of Florida. Some years ago forests 
of cedar and live oak were reserved in Florida and elsewhere on 
the coast to insure a future supply of these valuable timbers for our 
navy. These were, of course, abandoned when steel replaced wood 
for this purpose. These, however, were our lirst national reserves. 

Other conifers in cultivation are: 
Araucaria excelsa. Norfolk Island Pine. 

Cedrus Deodara. Deodar Cedar. 

.According to Reasoner. tliis tree >ucceeds everywhere in the 
South. It is very similar to the cedar nf Lebanon and the Atlas cedar. 

PANDANACEAE. PANDANUS FAMILY. 
Pandanus utilis. Screw Pine. 




A M.VHdGA.W TKKF, 1 .V THE BAHAMAS. 

ORDER POACEAE. GRASS FAMILY. 
Bambos spp. Bamboo. 

Several species are growing here and the government has started 
a bamboo farm at Brooks\ille. Florida. Bambos vulgaris is abundant 
along water courses in tlie West Indies, forming stately groves. 
Since it loves moi>t <tream bank^ it will, no doubt, be a great favorite 

116 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 



>Palmettoes 



for Everglade planting-. It throws a heavy siiade and is a fine pro- 
tective cover for poultry and social birds. 

ORDER ARECACEAE. PALM FAMILY. 

Thrinax Floridana 

Thrinax microcarpa 

Thrinax Keyensis 

Cocothrinax jucunda 

Sabal palmetto 

Serenoa arborescens 
The leaves of these pahnettoc^ are highl}' valued in some coun- 
tries for thatch, also for mats, baskets, etc. The leaves of the "Pond 
Thatch" in the Bahamas last longer than shingles. Thrinax Keyensis 
is good for this purpose. When timber gets scarcer, they will be 
more extensive!}' used, just as straw is used on even expensive build- 
ings in Holland. 




THE I.TVF. OAK. 

PALMS. 



Pseudophoenix Sargentii. 

Southern Keys and tlie Baliama 
Getting very scarce. 

117 



Sargent Palm. 

Resembles the date palm. 



THE EVERGLADES 



Roystonea regia. Royal Palm. 

This majestic tree reaches its optimal growth in Cuba, of 
which countrj^ it is emblematic; it adorns the Cuban two-cent postage 
stamp and coat-of-arms and its rich berries fatten many swine for 
their Christmas festivities. Extensively planted in South Florida 
and appears to be indigenous in several patches in the neighborhood 
of the Everglades. 
Cocos nucifera. Coco Palm. 

One of the most beautiful and useful members of the plant 
world, yielding food, drink and shelter to main* primitive peoples of 
the world. This tree grows in sandj- soil along the seashores of 
tropical Florida and although most of the nuts were planted by the 




SEMINOLE 1N1)I.\XS COMIN'C. TO TOWN 
WITH VENISON AND SKINS. 

hand of man, undoubtedly some have sprung from seeds which have 
washed ashore and been buried in seaweed and sand on the beach. 
The original home of the coco palm is probably not known and since 
it grows as well in South Florida as elsewhere, it deserves to be listed 
at least as a naturalized member of our silva. Rabbits are fond of 
the young sprouts. They must be protected in youth. 
Phoenix dactylifera. Date Palm. 

Phoenix Canariensis. The Canary Island Date Palm. 

Washingtonia filamentosa. Fanleaf Palm. 

118 



• AND S0UT1IP:RX FLORIDA 

MUSCAEAE. BANANA FAMILY. 

The banana is, by some people, called a tree because of its size, 
but according to the accepted definition of a tree, the stem must be 
woody in nature. 

CASAURINACEAE. BEEFWOOD FAMILY. 
Casuarina equisetifolia. 

A tree of the East Indies and Australia, but now common 
throughout the tropics. Grows close to the sea, and has been used in 
the fixation of moving dunes along the seashore. It is usually called 
Australian Pine, but a patch of them on Biscayne Bay is known as 
the "cedars." The tree has become naturalized in South Florida and 
young trees of this species are growing here and there on the shore, 
the seeds of which have no doubt been washed ashore. It is a 
valuable addition to the silva of the State of Florida. Should be 
extensively planted for timber. It withstands the gales and yields a 
wood like oak. 

JUGLANDACEAE. WALNUT FAMILY. 
Hicoria pecan. Pecan. 

The king of nuts extensively cultivated in improved form in 
North Florida. Both the words "hickory" and "pecan" are probably 
of Indian origin. It is quite probable that some Spanish tree names 
such as "Ucare" are corruptions of hickory since hickory has been 
extensive!}^ used by West Indian peoples for barrel and hogshead 
hoops. 

The pecan grows well in Florida, but apparently does not flourish 
south of central part of the State. 

MYRICACEAE. BAYBERRY FAMILY. 
Morella cerifera. Wax Myrtle. 

SALICACEAE. WILLOW FAMILY. 
Salix longipes. Long Stalk Willow. 

FAGACEAE. BEECH FAMILY. 
Quercus Virginiana. Live Oak. 

Excellent timber tree, common in Florida, also Mexico, Cuba and 
Central America. These sturdy, broadspreading live oaks draped with 
Florida moss form a very characteristic feature of the Florida land- 
scape. 
Quercus myrtifolia. Myrtle Leaved Oak. 

ARTOCARPACEAE. MULBERRY FAMILY. 
Morus rubra. Red Mulberry. 

Common throughout the State. 
Morus nigra. Black Mulberry. 

Commonl}' planted for its large, black, juicy fruits. Probably 
originally came from Persia. 

119 



THE EX'EF^GLADES 

Morus alba. White Mulberry. 

From China. Introduced niainl}- for silk-worm food. 
Broussonetia papyrifera. Paper Mulberry. 

From Japan. Coninmii tlirdU.ijliout the State. 
Ficus aurea. Golden Fig. 

South Florida and the West Indies. A striking weed tree in the 
forest. Grows first on limbs of other trees, tlirows down aerial roots 
to the ground and I'inally chokes and kills the tree upon which it 
started. 




.\I.EUKITKS Tl.II.DIlA — THE C.XNDI.E- 
NTT. H.\S KKliTKIl l\ SOTTH 
FLORTD.V .\.\1) IS .\ \\l.r.\lU.K TRKF.. 



Ficus populnea. Poplarleaf Fig. 

South Florida and tlic West Indies. Easily propagated from cut- 
tings and might i)rn\e a satisfactory shade tree for South Florida. 
Ficus carica. The Fig. 

Cultivated tliri lUiilumt the South f(n- its fruits. 
Ficus nitida. Spanish Laurel. 

A beautiful shade tree in \as>au and Key West. .\lso common 
in Cuba. A very satisfactory tree for roadside planting. 

120 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

Ficus religiosa. Sacred Bo of India. 

Growinti in favor as a shade tree in Tropical Florida. Very com- 
mon avenue shade tree in Cuba. 
Ficus altissima. East Indian Rubber. 

Makes excellent growth in Southern Florida. 
Ficus glomerata. Cluster Fig. 

Of India. Grows well and bears well in Southern Florida. 
Artocarpus integrifolia. The Jack Fruit. 

This tree, similar to the Bread Fruit, has fruited in South 
Florida. 

ULMACEAE. ELM FAMILY. 
Trema Floridana. 




A M.\STIC TREE IX THE HAi[MOCK. 
(PHOTO r.Y PR. R. M. HARPER.) 

POLYGONACEAE. BUCKWHEAT FAMILY. 
Coccolobis uvifera. Sea Grape. 

Common on the seashore of Southern Florida, also West Indian 
Coccolobis laurifolia. Pigeon Plum. 

South Florida and West Indies. A fine tree in the hammocks of 
Southern Florida. (A hammock is a rich hardwood jungle. It is 
probably an old Indian word and the old spelling "hamak" is some- 
times still used.) 

121 



THE EVERGLADES 

ALLIONIACEAE. FOUR-O'CLOCK FAMILY. 
Pisonia obtusata. Blolly. 

Sea bcaclic- and shores of brackish lagoons. Tropical Florida. 

ANONACEAE. CUSTARD APPLE FAMILY. 

Anona glabra. Custard or Pond-Apple. 

Anona squamosa. Sugar Apple or Sweet Sop. 

Anona muricata. Sour Sop. 

Anona reticulata. Custard Apple, called also BuUocks's, 

Heart or Corazon. 
Anona cherimolia. Cherimoyer. 

The fruit of the latter is verj- highly prized in Spanish-American 
countries. It can be budded on our native Pond-apple. The wood of 
Pond-apple is very light and useful for net floats and stoppers in place 
of cork. Canangium odoratum of this order, a few of which have been 
planted in South Florida, yields the famous ilang-ilang perfume. To 
this order belong several important genera, such as Uvaria and 
Rollinia, which yield valuable fruits. 

MAGNOLIACEAE. MAGNOLIA FAMILY. 
Magnolia glauca. Magnolia or Sweet Bay. 

A beautiful tree which _ should be more extensively planted. 
Grows well on Everglade soil. 

CAPPARIDACEAE. CAPER FAMILY. 
Capparis Jamaicensis. Florida Caper, 

MORINGACEAE. HORSERADISH TREE FAMILY. 
Moringa moringa. Horseradish Tree. 

The root of this tree, finely scraped, is eaten as horseradish. 
The Oil of Ben, used b}' perfumers, is extracted from the seeds of this 
tree. 

AMYGDALACEAE. PLUM FAMILY. 
Chrysobalanus Icaca. Coco-plum. 

Amygdalus Persica. Peach. 

Laurocerasus sphaerocarpa. West India Cherry. 

Eriobotrya Japonica. Loquat. 

LEGUMINOSEAE. BEAN FAMILY. 
Pithecolobium unguis-cati. Florida Cat's Claw. 

Pithecolobium dulce. Gaumachil. 

One of the fastest-growing trees ever introduced into Florida. It 
grows five feet in height per year, on rocky land. Grows well in 
regions of very slight rainfall. The pulp of the pod is eaten by the 
poorer classes of Mexico. Pods are a good feed for cattle, and the 
bark contains twenty-five per cent tannin and is therefore exten- 
sively used for tanning purposes in regions where it is plentiful. 

122 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

Pithecolobium saman. Rain Tree or Quango. 

Similar to tlie ahovc. 
Pithecolobium Gaudeloupense. Goatbush. 

This is a native bush, but sometimes reaches tree propor- 
tions. It is vakiable because it is the first hardwood leguminous shrub 
to appear in the pine woods. It enriches the soil by its litter and 
paves the \va.y for other hardwoods. It marks the beginning of the 
transition from pinewoods to hammock conditions. 
Albizzia Julibrissin. 

A favorite shade tree in the Southeastern United States. 
Albizzia Lebbek. Siris or Lebbek Tree. 

Called Woman's Tongue in Nassau. 
Lyoiloma latisiliqua. Wild Tamarind. 

Common in places on the Keys. Wood, heavy, hard, tough, close- 
grained, rich brown, tinged with red. 
Vachellia Famesiana. Yellow Opoponax. 

Called also Popinac. The flowers are used for perfume. 
Leucaena glanca. 
Mimosa spp. 
Dalbergia Sissoo. Sissoo Tree of India. 

It is a species of this same genus that yields one varietj^ of 
"Rosewood." 

Tamarindus Indica. Tamarind. 

Ceratonia siliqua. St. John's Bread or Carob. 

Haematoxylon Campechianum Logwood- 

Grows well on dry, rocky ridges. 
Cassia fistula. Shower of Gold. 

A favorite ornamental tree. 
Delonix regia. Poinciana Tree. 

A favorite shade tree. 
Ichthyomethia piscipula. Jamaica Dogwood. 

A ct)mmon and ver}^ valuable timber tree for South Florida. 
Alight be used to advantage as a shade and ornamental. Grows 
quickl}', has an abundance of pea-like flowers in clusters which honey 
bees are fond of. As the name indicates, it is a fish poison. The 
bark and twigs are l)ruise(l and lowered in a basket into the water. 
A poison is dissolved which stupefies fish that comes near it. They 
float to the surface and are easily captured. This tree grows well from 
seeds and its propagation should be encouraged. 
Bauhinia spp. 

Several species, beautiful, ornamental small trees. 
Cajan cajan. Pigeon Pea. 

Makes a small but useful tree. Poultry' are fond of its seeds and 
its lea\es enrich the soil. 
Erythrina arborea. 

123 




A CEDRKI.A TREE GROWN FROM A CUTTING. RATE OK GKOWTH TO DATE, TWO 

FEET PER MONTH. 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

ZYGOPHYLLACEAE. CALTROP FAMILY. 

Guaiacum sanctum. Lignum Vitae. 

Verj' hard, slow-growing wood. 

RUTACEAE. RUE FAMILY. 

Fagara fagara. Wild Lime. 

Fagara flava. Yellow wood. 

Valued for timber in the Bahamas. Good for plane stocks, tool 
handles and furniture. 

Fagara clava-Herculis. Prickly Ash. 
Fagara coriacea. 

Amyris elemifera. Torchwood. 

Wood heavy, hard, strong, close-grained; very resinous, very 
durable: light orange in color. 
Amyris maritima. 
Amyris balsamifera. 

Citrus vulgaris. Bitter Sweet Orange. 

Citrus aurantium. Sweet Orange. 

Citrus limonium. Lemon. 

Citrus limetta. Lime. 

Citrus medica. Citron. 

Citrus decumanna. Grapefruit, Pomelo, or Shaddock. 

Citrus nobilis. Tangerine. 

Citrus Japonica. Kumquat. 

SIMARUBACEAE. QUASSIA FAMILY. 

Simarouba glauca. Paradise Tree. 

South Florida and West Indies. A pretty, quick-growing tree m 
the hammocks. Would make a handsome avenue tree. 
Bursera simaruba. Gumbo-Limbo. 

South Florida and West Indies. Grows easily from a cutting or 
large limb stuck in the ground, frequently used in this way for live 
fence posts. Grows very quickly and has a very striking, bronzy 
rod trunk, with papery bark. The term gumbo-limbo is probably a 
negro corruption of the term gum-elemi. Called "gamolimie" in the 
Bahamas, which is probably a corruption of gum-elemi. 

MELIACEAE. MAHOGANY FAMILY. 

Melia azedarach. China Berry. 

Called also "Lilaila." In tlie northern part of the State and 
along the Gulf Coast a variety of this tree, umbraculiformis or 
"Umbrella China Tree," or "Texas Umbrella Tree,"' is the favorite 
tree for shade and ornament. Although a native of Persia, is now 
naturalized in the Southern United States. 

125 



THE EN'ERGLADES 

Swietenia mahagoni. Mahogany. 

Called also madeira, the latter word being simply the Spanish 
for "wood." Common on the Keys and parts of the southern main- 
land. The king of all woods. Something ought to be done to 
encourage the perpetuation of this, our choicest native hardwood, in 
the only part of the mainland of the United States where it can 
possibly grow. 




A RUBBER TREE KILLING A COCO PALM. WILD RUBBER TREES ARE PERNICIOUS 
WEEDS. THE SEED IS DROPPED BY A BIRD IN THE FORK OF THE TRUNK OR 
IN THE CREVICE OF THE BARK. IT SPROUTS, ITS ROOTS RUN DOWN THE 
TRUNK TO THE GROUND. IN TIME IT CHOKES TO DEATH THE TREE WHICH 
SUPPORTED IT IN YOUTH. 



Cedrela Sinensis. 
Cedrela toona. 

The toon tree of India, called Red Cedar in Queensland. 
Cedrela odorata. Spanish Cedar. 

126 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

EUPHORBIACEAE. SPURGE FAMILY. 

Drypetes lateriflora. Florida Plum. 

Also called "white-wood." South Florida and West Indies. 
DrjT)etes Keyensis. Guiana Plum. 

Also called "white-wood." South Florida and West Indies. 
Gymnanthes lucida. Crabwood. 

Southern Florida and West Indies. Some say this wood is poison- 
ous. It is, however, a very pretty wood and is often used in the 
manufacture of canes, paper-knives and similar articles. 
Ricinus communis. Castor Oil Tree. 

Attains the size of a small tree in South Florida. Valuable plant. 
Oil is very useful, seed pumice is a valuable fertilizer and the plant is 
not exhaustive to the soil. 

Hura crepitans. Sand Box Tree. 

Aleurites triloba. Candlenut Tree. 

Hippomane mancinella. ManchineeL 

Southern Florida and the West Indies. A tree to be shy of; for- 
tunately not common on the mainland. Poisonous to the touch to 
many people, producing a distressing dermatitis worse than poison ivy. 
It is called "guao" in Cuba, and I have known persons who have 
handled it without knowing suffer agonies with face and hands a solid 
mass of large blisters. It has a small fruit of pleasant appearance 
which might be eaten by children with dire results. 

SPONDIACEAE. SUMAC FAMILY. 

Metopium metopium. Poison Wood. 

Very common in Southern Florida. Poisonous, and when bruised 
exudes a gum which blackens the trunk of the tree. One of the first 
trees to come up after hammock land has been cut and burnt. 
Mangifera Indica. Mango. 

Extensively planted in the southern countries, producing an abun- 
dance of choice fruits, some of the recent imported and improved 
varieties ranking with the choicest of our fruits. At the same time 
a valuable shade and ornamental tree. 

Anacardium occidentale. Cashevir Apple. 

Cashew Nut. 

Spondias dulcis. Otahaite Apple. 

Spondias lutea. ^ Hog Plum Jobo. 

Spondias purpurea. Scarlet or Spanish Plum. 

Schinus molle. Pepper Tree. 

Manihot manihot. Cassava. 

Phyllanthus (Cicca) distichus. Gooseberry Tree. 

127 



THE EVERGLADES 

AQUIFOLIACEAE. HOLLY FAMILY. 
Ilex Cassene. Dahoon. 

CELASTRACEAE. STAFF TREE FAMILY. 

Gyminda Grisebachii. False Boxwood. 

Schafferia frutescens. Boxwood or Yellow Wood. 

ACERACEAE. MAPLE FAMILY. 
Acer rubrium. Red Maple. 

SAPINDACEAE. SOAP BERRY FAMILY. 

Sapindus saponaria. Soap Berry. 

Exothea paniculata. Inkwood Ironwood. 

W'lMid very liard and heavy. Used for tool handles, etc. 
Hyperlate trifoliata. White Ironwood. 

Wood used in shipbuilding in Bahamas. Berries edible. 
Cupania glabra. 
Blighia sapida. 

Formerly known as Cupania edulis, is the Akee of Africa and 
Jamaica. This tree has fruited at the Sub-Tropical Gardens. The 
white covering of the seeds is a wholesome vegetable; the rest of 
the fruit is poisonous, so that great care must be exercised in using it. 
Melicocca bijuga. Genip. 

Pulp cdil)lc. Xuts in Venezuela are roasted and eaten like chest- 
nuts. 

FRANGULIACEAE. BUCKTHORN FAMILY. 

Rhamnidium ferreum. Black Ironwood. 

Colubrina reclinata. Nakedwood. 

Reynosia latifolia. Darling Plum. 

Fruit edible. 

MALVACEAE. MALLOW FAMILY. 
Hibiscus tiliaceus. Mahoe. 

Thespesia populnea. 

This tree is called "majagua de Florida" in Cuba. 
Gossypium religiosum. Tree Cotton. 

Ceiba pentandra. Silk Cotton Tres. 

CANELLACEAE. WILD CINNAMON FAMILY. 
Canella Winteriana. Cinnamon Bark or White Wood. 

CLUSIACEAE. BALSAM TREE FAMILY. 
Clusia flava. 
Mammea Americana. Mammee Apple. 

128 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

PAPAYACEAE. PAPAW FAMILY. 
Carica papaya. Papaw. 

BIXACEAE. BIXA FAMILY. 

Bixa Orellana. Annatta. 

A small tree yielding an orange-colored dye, used for butter color. 

PROTEACEAE. PROTEA FAMILY. 

Grevillea robusta. Sheoak from Australia. 

FAMILY LAURACEAE. LAUREL FAMILY. 

Persea, aquacate, avocado, avocato, alligator pear, butter pear, mid- 
shipman's butter, palta, etc. 

A salad fruit. A species, P. sylvestris, grows wild in Cuba. Prac- 
tically naturalized in South Florida. Extensively cultivated for home 
consumption and shipment North. Several improved varieties propa- 
gated by budding. 
Persea borbonia. Red Bay. 

Common throughout Florida. Called sometimes "Florida mahog- 
any,"' but should never be confounded with the true mahogany which 
grows on the Kej's. 
Persea pubescens. Swamp Bay. 

The term "bay" sometimes applied to trees maj' come from the 
French baie, meaning berry; it may have to do with the color of the 
v/ood, although the word bay in this sense is usually only applied to 
horses and in the case of "bay-wood" sometimes applied to mahogany; 
bay may refer to the "Bay Islands" in the Gulf of Honduras, a great 
mahogany center. 
Ocotea Catesbyana. Lancewood. 

A very valuable wood. 
Misantica triandra. 

One tree 18 inches in diameter and a few small ones found by 
Miss Olivia Rodham in the Brickell Hammock, near Miami. Identified 
by C. S. Sargent. Broad-topped, handsome tree, native to Cuba. 
Cinnamomum camphora. Camphor Tree. 

Grows well throughout the State. Well-established plantations of 
this tree in the proper locations would probably in time bring large 
returns. 

According to a recent report citrus groves with camphor planted 
here and there are not infested with white-fly. 
Cinnamomum cassia. Chinese Cinnamon. 

A magnificent shelter tree, very dense and of quick growth. Will 
grow throughout the State. 
Launis nobilis. Apollo's Laurel. 

129 




X d 



1^ O 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

PUNICACEAE. POMEGRANATE FAMILY. 
Punica granatam. Pomegranate. 

TERMINALIACEAE. WHITE MANGROVE FAMILY. 
Conocarpus erecta. Buttonwood. 

Southern Florida. Chiefly along salt shores. Highly prized for 
fuel. The best fuel I know of, since it makes great heat and almost 
no smoke. 
Bucida buceras. Black Olive Tree. 

Keys and West Indies. 
Laguncularia racemosa. White Mangrove 

or Buttonwood, 

Soutli Florida and West Indies. Muddy shores, common. 
Terminalia cattappa. West Indian Almond. 

Common West Indian shade tree. 

MYRTACEAE. MYRTLE FAMILY. 
Eugenia buxifolia. Gurgeon Stopper. 

Spanish Stopper. 

Soutli Florida and West Indies. 
Eugenia monticola. Stopper. 

White Stopper. 

Southern Florida. 
Eugenia Garberi. Garber Stopper. 

South I'lorida and West Indies. 
Eugenia procera. Red Stopper. 

Keys. 
Eugenia jambos. Rose-Apple. 

A common introduced species; although a native of India it is 
naturalized in the West Indies. Eugenia Micheli is the much-prized 
Surinam Cherry in Dade County. 
Eugenia longipes. 

There are many species of Eugenia in South America which yield 
valuable fruits. 
Anamomis dichotoma. Naked Stopper. 

South Florida. 
Chytraculia chytraculia. Stopper. 

South Florida and West Indies. 
Psidium guajava. Common Guava. 

Probably the greatest of all jelly-producing fruits. Common 
throughout Florida. 
Eucalyptus spp. 

Many claim that the right species of the many kinds are the most 
promising of all trees for planting in Florida, because of their great 
rapidity of growth and aid to drainage, since they suck up in the 

131 



THE EVERGLADES 

process of transpiration many times the amount of water which 

falls upon the surface of their foliage in the form of rain. 

The following kinds have been highly recommended for trial: 

E. meliodora, E. viminatis, E. citraodora, E. robusta, E. rostrata, 

E. crebra, E. corynocalj'x, E. resinifera. 

Melaleuca leucodendron. The Cajeput Tree. 

Grows well in Florida and j-ields Cajeput oil. 

RHIZOPHORACEAE. RED MANGROVE FAMILY. 
Rhizophora mangle. Red Mangrove. 

South Florida and the West Indies. A wonderful tree, grows in 
salt water and of great value in consolidating muddy shores; it has 
been called the "Land Former." Deserves to be protected because of 
the protection it affords to exposed shores in times of storm. Planta- 
tions on the Keys in the shelter of mangroves suffered little damage 
in the great storm of the fall of 1906, while those exposed to the fury 
of the waves bearing floating wreckage were ruined. Seeds of this 
tree have been sent to the Hawaiian Islands to be planted for this' 
purpose, and when the mangrove takes hold along the line of the 
railroad to Key West it will safely protect it against the severest 
storms. 

THEOPHRASTACEAE. JACQUINIA FAMILY. 
Jacquinia Keyensis. Joewood. 

According to Nash, in tlie Bahamas the bark is mixed with lime, 
placed in a bag and put in the water to stupefj' fish. 

ARDISIACEAE. MYRSINE FAMILY. 
Icaoroea paniculata. Marlberry Cherry. 

SAPOTACEAE. SAPODILLA FAMILY. 
Chrysophyllum oliviforme. Satin-Leaf. 

Southern Florida. Highly prized as an ornamental tree because of 
the bright golden color on the under side of its leaves. To this same 
genus belongs the beautiful "Cainito" or Star-apple, a fruit relished by 
peoples of the West Indies. It might be possible to bud the Star- 
apple on tlu' nati\c Satin-leaf. 
Mimusops Sieberi. Wild Dilly. 

Keys. 
Sapota zapotillo. Sapodilla. 

Naturalized on the Keys, where it is a common fruit. Planted also 
on the mainland. A tree hard to start, but hardy when started, yields 
an everlasting wood and a gum called Chicle. 
Sideroxylum mastichodendron. Mastic. 

Valuable forest tree of Southern Florida. Grows to be large and 
is quite common, shedding an abundance of yellow fruits which are 

132 



AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA 

edible in case one likes the flavor. Mastic would probably make a 

satisfactory shade tree. 

Dipholis salicifolia. Bustic or Cassada. 

Southern Florida and West Indies. 
Lucuma Rivicoa var angusttifolia. Ties, or Egg Fruit. 

Chrysophyllum cainito. Star-Apple 

A fruit lii.iilily relislied in the West Indies. 
Lucuma mammosa. Mammee Sapota 

EBENACEAE. PERSIMMON OR EBONY FAMILY. 
Diospyros kaki. Japanese Persimmon. 

Diospyros Virginiana. Persimmon. 

Throughout Florida. There is a curious mix-up in names in con- 
nection with the persimmon and the sapodilla just mentioned above. 
The black persimmon of Texas and Northern Mexico is called 
"Chapote," which is a slight modification of the name Sapota. The 
Spanish for sapodilla is Nispero, the name of the European Aledlar. 
From Nispero comes the term Naseberry, a name frequently applied 
to the Sapodilla in the British West Indies. Both words, Persimmon 
and Sapota, are probably of Indian origin, the one North American 
and the other South American. 

OLEACEAE. OLIVE FAMILY. 
Olea Europea. Olive. 

Grows luxuriantly in South Florida but does not fruit. There was 
the same difficulty with it in Southern California. With proper treat- 
ment it might yield a valuable crop for this region. 

APOCYNACEAE. DOGBANE FAMILY. 
Nerium oleander. Oleander. 

A beautiful ornamental but poisonous. According to report on 
the subject by the Arizona Experiment Station, the physiological 
effects are similar to those of digitalis, and if enough poison is 
obtained the patient is sure to die. Fifteen to thirty grains of the 
leaves will kill a horse, ten to twenty grains a cow, and from one to 
five grains a sheep. 
Plumieria rubra. Frangipani. 

A fine ornamental. 

EHRETIACEAE. EHRETIA FAMILY. 
Cordia Sebastina. Geiger Tree. 

Bourreria Havanensis. Strong Bar'^. 

Bark used in making tea in the Bahamas. 

VERBENACEAE. VERBENA FAMILY. 
Citharexylum villosum. ^ Fiddlewood. 

South Florida. One must not assume from both the scientific and 
common names that this wood is good for fiddles; quite otherwise, 

133 



THE EVERGLADES 

because the wood is heavy and exceedingh- liard. Both names are 
supposed to be mistakes, or rather the common name is a corruption 
of the French "fidele," meaning true or strong, and the scientific name 
is merel}^ a translation of the common name. On the other hand, one 
softer and lighter wooded member of this genus might have been 
used for this purpose. Bello gives the common name "palo de guitara" 
to C. quadrangulare in Porto Rico, and Cook says the natives make 
their guitars of this wood. 

Avicenna nitida. Black Mangrove. 

Very valuable tree, like the red mangrove, for consolidating muddy 
shores. 

BIGNONIACEAE. BIGNONIA FAMILY. 
Crescentia cujete. Calabash. 

Crescentia ovata. Black Calabash. 

OLACACEAE. XIMENIA FAMILY. 
Ximenia Americana. Purging Nut. 

Called also Mountain Plum, in Jamaica. Fruit eaten. 

RUBIACEAE. MADDER FAMILY. 
Exostema Caribaeum. Princewood. 

Bark a tonic. Would probably make a useful bitters. 
Coffea Arabica. Coffee. 

Cofifee has fruited in South Florida. 
Genipa clusiifolia. Seven-Year Apple. 

I'ruit eaten. 
Guettarda elliptica. 

Guettarda scabra. Nakedwood. 

Psychotria undata. 

In addition to the above mentioned trees, I have seen two speci- 
mens of Kigelia pinata, the Sausage Tree of Africa; Cecropia peltata, 
the Trumpet Tree; Castilloa elastica, the Mexican rubber tree; 
Manihot Glaziovii, Ceara rubber; one specimen of the true banyan, 
Ficus Indica, a Covillea from ^ladagascar, and others not sufficiently 
tried to be worthy of record until they grow older. 



134 



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